A Persistent Shadow
by Snap Change
Summary: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended. Bakura x Ryou, Complete
1. Prologue

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Prologue)

**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others

**Rating**: M (Overall)

**Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou paused outside the game shop. He felt nervous and ill-at-ease, though he couldn't figure out why.

The voice in his head laughed at him. _Perhaps it's because your 'friend' was so obviously lying when you spoke to him on the phone._

Ryou rolled his eyes. The spirit always was overly paranoid. _How could he be **lying**? All he said was "Hey, Ryou, we're playing a new game. Why don't you come over?"_

_And you didn't notice the tone of his voice? The hesitation? How **vague** he got when you asked about the game?_

Actually, Ryou had noticed, but he was so desperate to have some normal time with friends that he was determinedly ignoring it. _It's probably just too complicated to explain over the phone._

_Think what you will, Landlord, but I intend to be ready for a fight._

Ryou covered his face with his hands. _Please, please, don't do anything this time. I can't--_

"Bakura?" Ryou heard Yugi's concerned voice and lowered his hands to see Yugi's head peeking out of the doorway. "Are you alright?"

Ryou forced a big smile onto his face. He didn't want Yugi to know how he was really feeling. "I'm fine! So what's the new game?"

Yugi looked surprised for a moment. "The new game. Right. Um... Why don't you come in and see?" He vanished inside before Ryou could respond.

_I can see what you mean. This isn't even remotely suspicious._

_Shut up. We're going inside._ And with that, Ryou took a step toward the door and stopped again when his Millennium Ring started going crazy underneath his shirt. He lifted it out before any of the spikes could stab him – he knew how unpleasant that could be. He eyed the ring warily. _What does this mean?_

_It means the game we are about to play probably isn't so new after all._

Ryou groaned. _Why would the Pharaoh want to challenge you to a shadow game __**now**__?_

_I don't know, but I intend to win it. Now go inside._

Ryou tried to look on the bright side. At least the spirit had left him in control of his body this time. He took a deep breath and stepped into the shop.

He gaped in surprise at what he saw inside. _What the... _It looked like someone's Duel Monsters deck had exploded all over the room, though it would have been surprising to see an explosion leave the cards in such an intricate pattern around the room. The cards were laid out face up in a circle radiating out from the center of the room. Several Egyptian artifacts were spaced evenly around the outside of the card circle and there were even a few on the walls where Ryou knew game posters normally hung. _What happened in here?_

_Nothing happened. This is clearly a setup. Now walk carefully toward the obvious trap in the middle of the room._

_The what? _Ryou looked around. _Oh, you mean the glass. _A clear piece of glass stood in the exact center of the room, light reflecting off it. He'd missed seeing it amidst all the chaos. _If you think it's a trap, why would you want to go toward it?_

_It's the only way to find out what the Pharaoh is up to. Be careful. As you are the one in control at the moment, whatever it is should affect **you** the most._

It was suddenly very clear to Ryou why he'd been left in control.

_Yes, exactly. I suppose if you're lucky one of the Pharaoh's friends will think twice about springing the trap when **you** are the one in control. Though it is a bit of a long shot._

Ryou tried to ignore the implicit comment about the state of his friendships with the group and cautiously approached the glass. It was a strange object. As far as Ryou could tell, it looked like someone had taken a standing mirror and removed the actual mirror, replacing it with a clear piece of glass. Ryou had no idea why someone would go to all that trouble. All it had done was render the mirror mostly useless, though the glass was still shiny enough for him to see a glimpse of his own reflection in it.

He puzzled over it for a few seconds, but realized he was getting nowhere. He looked toward the back of the shop, but the door was closed. "Yugi?"

The door opened and Yugi – no, Ryou could tell it was the Pharaoh who stepped out.

_Still think it isn't a trap?_

Ryou ignored the voice of the spirit. "Pharaoh?" he asked, his voice uncertain.

"You have possessed that boy's body for too long, Spirit!"

_Heh. He's one to talk about possessing people._

_Are you sure you don't want to be out there right now?_ Ryou never thought he'd see the day when he _wanted_ the spirit to take over his body, but the Pharaoh was making him extremely nervous at the moment. It was like he didn't even care Ryou was there. _He wants to talk to you, not me._

_I believe he thinks he **is** talking to me. _

_What?!_

_They've never been very good at telling the difference between us. Not until I start challenging people to shadow games, anyway. _The spirit laughed its terrible laugh. _Sometimes not even then._

Ryou had been partially aware of this – he'd always thought the spirit had to be pretty good at pretending to be him for it to go unnoticed for such long periods of time – but somehow being mistaken for the spirit still hurt, especially after all this time. "He's not in control right now!" Ryou exclaimed.

The Pharaoh didn't visibly react at all. "Then he will never be in control again!" The Millennium jerked around wildly. The Millennium Puzzle began to glow as the Pharaoh began to speak in what Ryou recognized as Ancient Egyptian.

"What are you--" Suddenly Ryou was unable to speak. He felt his body move itself directly in front of the glass. He felt a little relieved when it happened, assuming that the spirit had taken over and would be the one to face whatever the Pharaoh intended to do to him.

_No such luck, Landlord,_ the spirit growled. _I'm not in control either._

_What?!_

Energy started appearing from the cards on the floor, swirling around them in a whirlwind. Ryou's eyes were fixed on his reflection in the glass, which glowed brighter and brighter before beginning to change shape. For a moment he felt like he was being pulled from his body and screamed.

After a few seconds the pulling subsided and he could see that the reflection on the surface of the glass had morphed into the spirit's face and no longer moved along with his body. The figure of the spirit shifted on the glass a little longer before it looked Ryou directly in the eye and disappeared. The Pharaoh halted the onslaught of Ancient Egyptian and the room returned to normal.

Ryou regained the ability to move his body and collapsed on the floor in shock. _Spirit? What happened?_

The Ring was still. He received no response.


	2. Finally Free?

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 1)  
**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M (Overall)  
**Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou groaned in pain. It felt like someone had reached deep into chest and twisted his insides around. His head felt even worse. _What was that?_

He was surprised not to hear the Spirit's voice mocking him for being so weak. He was starting to think the Spirit might be gone, but he'd had his hopes dashed too many times in the past to easily get them up now.

Ryou heard the door at the back of the shop open and looked up to see Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Marik run out of it. The Pharaoh stood a short distance away from him, watching him intently. Ryou hoped he passed whatever mental test the Pharaoh was putting him through.

Téa was the first to come over to him. "Are you okay?" She sounded genuinely concerned about him, and Ryou could see from the others' expressions that they were worried as well.

Ryou smiled weakly and tried to stand. He still felt dizzy. "I'm fi-- ouch!" His muscles gave way and he collapsed hard on the floor for a second time. He winced, rubbing his knees. "Or I'll be fine soon, anyway."

Ryou felt a rush of fear as the Pharaoh walked over and stood above him. The Pharaoh's eyes were wary. "Is the Spirit of the Ring gone from your mind?"

Everyone in the room waited silently for Ryou's response.

He _wanted_ to say yes. He nearly said yes instinctively without thinking about it, just to allay the fears of his friends, but he managed to stop himself. He knew saying the wrong thing would do more harm than good in the long run.

He closed his eyes, trying to feel the presence of the spirit.

He wasn't entirely sure how he could tell whether or not the spirit was there. He couldn't feel any of the most obvious signs of the spirit's presence – the feeling of contempt for him and the rest of the world, the burning hatred and anger ready to erupt at any moment, and the spirit's mocking voice and laughter were all gone. But Ryou knew that the spirit could easily conceal himself when he wanted to.

He opened his eyes. "I don't know. He _seems_ gone..." Ryou half-expected the spirit to start shouting at him in his mind, _how dare you think I would be defeated so easily,_ but nothing came.

Tristan, Joey, and Téa let out a collective sigh of relief. Marik nodded, but looked cautious. The Pharaoh glanced over at Marik, still clearly unconvinced. "How can we be certain he is truly gone?"

"There's no way to test it. We'll just have to wait and see. But the fact that he's gone right now is a good sign. Did you see the spirit leave during the ritual?"

The Pharaoh shook his head. "Once I began chanting, the center of the room became too bright to see."

Marik knelt down in front Ryou. "What about you? Did you feel the spirit leave your body?"

Ryou felt his heart lift. "Yes, I did! It almost felt like I was going to be pulled along with him." He shuddered a little at the memory, but if it meant he was free, the pain had been worth it.

Marik blinked at him. "Like you were--"

But Marik was cut off when the Joey grabbed his shirt, hauling him up off the floor. "You said he wouldn't be affected at all! What were you trying to pull?"

Marik tried to pull away. "He shouldn't have been affected. The ritual was supposed to pull the possessing spirit from the body without harming the host. That's what the book said it would do. We did everything right, I'm sure of it."

Ryou hated arguments more than anything and arguments about _him_ most of all. "Guys, it's okay. I'll be fine. It's nothing if it means _he's _gone."

Joey let go of Marik. "I guess you're right."

"What happened after you felt the spirit pulled from your body?" the Pharaoh asked, as though the exchange between Marik and Joey hadn't even happened.

Ryou tried to remember. "Um... I saw the spirit on the glass. Then he disappeared."

Marik was triumphant. "See? It worked exactly as planned. The possessing spirit was pulled through the glass and trapped on the other side, unable to get back into the body."

That wasn't quite what Ryou remembered – in his memory it was more like the spirit was trapped on the surface of the glass than visible behind it. But it seemed like a minor detail, so he decided not to mention it. Marik was already taking heat for the ritual being a little different than expected, and he didn't want to add to it. Whatever the group had done had apparently _worked_ and and that's all he cared about.

Ryou tried to stand again and this time Tristan helped him up. "Don't overdo it."

Ryou smiled. "I won't." He paused. "Um... can I ask you guys one thing?"

"Sure, anything," Téa replied brightly.

"What exactly did you _do_?"

* * *

Ryou lay comfortably on the couch in Yugi's living room, listening to Marik explain how he had come up with the idea to free him from the spirit. Apparently he'd found the ritual in one of his family's ancient texts. He'd talked the Pharaoh and the rest of the group into going along with it.

"The Pharaoh was the first to agree. He seemed willing to do anything to get rid of his old enemy." Marik seemed to realize how that sounded right after he said it. "And to free you, of course." Marik then explained the basics of the ritual, though it wasn't much different from what Ryou had seen himself already.

Ryou drifted off toward the end of Marik's explanation. When he woke up, he found that someone had covered him with a blanket. He looked around and saw that the others had started watching a movie while he'd been sleeping. He stretched out his arms.

Yugi was sitting on the floor right in front of the couch and turned to smile at Ryou when he noticed him stirring. "Hey."

Ryou smiled back. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?"

"Good." Ryou's stomach growled. "Um. Hungry."

Yugi laughed and handed him a half-full bowl of popcorn. Ryou gobbled it up and settled in to figure out what was going on in the movie.

There was only an hour left. Afterward, the group chatted for a while longer until it started getting dark outside. Ryou hung back a little, uncomfortable with putting himself forward. He still felt a little like an outsider, but he was happy even being able to listen to the others. He did notice with a smidgen of envy that Marik didn't have the same problem he did and freely chimed in with his thoughts about anything and everything.

Soon it was time to go. Ryou stood up shakily. He wasn't in pain, but his body was still weaker than normal. Tristan put an arm around him to hold him up. "I could give you a ride home if you need one."

Ryou imagined zooming around on a motorcycle in his current condition and nearly turned green. "No, thanks. I'll be fine on my own." He took a small step forward to prove his point and luckily managed not to collapse on the floor. "See?"

"If you're sure..."

"I'm sure!"

"Alright then." Tristan shrugged and left through the shop with Joey.

"See you at school tomorrow!" Téa added, following them out the door.

That left Ryou with Yugi and Marik. He made his way slowly toward the door, taking care not to fall on his face. He paused when he reached the doorway, leaning against the frame.

"Are you really sure you can make it home okay?" Yugi asked doubtfully.

Ryou opened his mouth to protest that he was fine, but Marik interrupted him before he could speak. "Don't worry, I'll get him home." He looped Ryou's arm over his shoulders and tugged him so he was leaning against him instead of the door frame.

Ryou felt the same reaction he'd had when Tristan offered him a ride. "I can walk home on my own, but I don't think I'm up for a ride on--"

"I'll _walk_ you home," Marik said lightly. "I left my 'bike at the hotel today, anyway."

Yugi looked slightly confused at that statement, but all he said was "If you need help getting to school tomorrow..."

"If it's that bad I'll stay home sick for the day." Ryou may have resigned himself to having Marik walk him home, but he wasn't going to make himself any more of any inconvenience.

Yugi looked like he was about to object, but then he nodded. "That's probably a good idea. We'll come by to see you after school if that happens."

"I'll just be going, then." Ryou started out the door before Yugi could change his mind, tugging Marik along with him.

* * *

They were only a block away from the game shop and Ryou already felt glad he'd taken Marik up on his offer. "Thanks again..."

"It's nothing. I'm responsible for you being in this condition in the first place." Marik stopped walking. "It really wasn't supposed to affect you like this. I'm still not sure why it did."

Ryou welcomed the break from walking. "It doesn't matter. I could stay like this forever if means _he_ won't ever take over my body again."

Marik smiled grimly. "I know _exactly_ what you mean. That's why I convinced the others to do the ritual. We couldn't ask you what you wanted directly, but..."

Ryou shuddered. If they _had_ asked, he'd probably still be possessed right now. "Better that he didn't have any advance warning of what you intended."

"Right."

The two walked in silence until they reached Ryou's apartment.

Ryou pulled away from Marik, leaning against the door for support. "I can make it from here on my own."

"Okay. See you in school tomorrow!" Marik moved to leave.

"Wait, in school?"

Marik turned back. "Yeah, in school. I've decided to stay a little longer. I've never been to a real school before. It should be fun!"

Ryou couldn't remember ever being that excited about school. He'd always been more afraid than eager – first because of his own shyness and tendency to attract bullies, later because of the spirit who might take over his body and start wreaking havoc at any time.

The true weight of the spirit's disappearance finally hit him and he realized that none of those things were an issue anymore. Well, he was still a bit shy, but he had friends now, real friends! The spirit was gone. He could talk to people without worrying about the spirit doing something horrible to them.

He had a real life ahead of him.

Ryou smiled his happiest smile in a very long time. "Yeah! It'll be fun!"

"See you there!" Marik waved and ran back the way they came.

* * *

Ryou walked up the stairs to his apartment with a new energy. He felt like he could do anything.

He went to his room and started getting his stuff ready for school the next day. He usually left it until the very last moment (roughly a minute before leaving), but things were different now that he was actually looking forward to school. Nothing could spoil his mood now.

_Really? Are you quite sure about that?_

Ryou froze. _No._ It was a hallucination. It had to be. The spirit was gone.

_I'm afraid not._

Ryou turned around to see the smirking form of the spirit reclined on his bed. He closed his eyes and sighed.

He should have known it was too good to be true.


	3. The True Result

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 2)  
**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others  
**Rating**: M (Overall)**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou turned his back on the spirit and stood with his eyes closed for well over minute, trying to draw out the last of his freedom for as long as possible. His newfound energy was quickly fading. He knew things would soon be back to the way they'd been before, but he desperately clung to the thought of life without the spirit.

_Come now. I can't be all **that** bad._ Ryou felt the presence of the spirit right behind him. His eyes flew open and he spun around, backing away until he hit his desk.

"How?"

"Oh, please. You didn't really think it would be that easy to get rid of me?"

Ryou shook his head, laughing bitterly. "Of course not. Nothing is ever that easy."

"More like the Pharaoh is never as clever as he thinks." The spirit looked particularly smug.

Ryou took a moment to look the spirit over. He looked transparent, like a ghost in the movies. He was dressed the same way Ryou was, even down to the Millennium Ring around his neck. But while the clothes were technically the same, the spirit somehow managed to wear them completely differently.

"With style, you mean."

Hearing the spirit talk prompted Ryou to take a closer look at his face. He'd seen it in the glass during the ritual, but that hadn't been the best situation for noticing small details. He frowned at what he saw. Apart from a few basic similarities like hair and eye color, Ryou didn't think they looked very much alike at all. Did his body look like this when when the spirit took over? How could anyone _ever_ mistake the spirit for him?

"I can make my appearance closer to yours when I feel like it. Though it doesn't hurt that your friends are complete idiots."

The spirit walked back over to the bed and plopped himself down. Ryou noticed that the bed didn't move at all; even the covers in the spot he was lying in were completely unruffled. Ryou found being able to see the spirit distinctly unnerving, even if he hadn't done anything yet. _Come to think of it..._ "Why _can_ I see you all of sudden?"

The spirit shrugged, inspecting one of his hands. "A little side effect of the ritual the Pharaoh performed. I could always have done it if I wanted to, but it's somewhat... easier now."

_Great._ So not only had it not worked, it had actually made things worse. Ryou wanted to throw himself on the bed and bury his head under a pillow, but he wasn't about to go closer to the spirit than he needed to be. He decided in favor of collapsing on his desk chair.

He took another long look at the spirit, who was still just lying there on the bed as though he didn't have a care in the world. "What do you want?" The spirit had to know he would need his bed back. Blocking him off from it could only be a purposeful act.

"How do you know that? Perhaps I only want a good night's sleep."

Ryou was not about to be drawn off course. "What do you _want?_"

The spirit sat back up. "I have some things I'd like you to do for me."

"Me? Why do you need me do anything?" He didn't even want to consider _what_ the spirit might want him to do.

"Yes, well... there's no need to arouse the Pharaoh's suspicions. I'm willing to leave you in control as long as you agree to do what I tell you."

Ryou said nothing for a moment. Something didn't seem right about this. "And if I don't agree?"

The spirit was in front of him in the blink of an eye. "Then things will go back to the way they were. I'll make sure you never see your precious friends again."

Ryou was overcome with the urge to warn someone, Yugi, anyone. He grabbed for his cell phone in a panic – he'd already had the thought, any second now the spirit would seize control of the body to stop him–

Instead of taking over his body like Ryou had expected, the spirit made a weak grab at Ryou's arm. Ryou broke free easily, searching for Yugi's number in his contacts at the same time. He found it in a few seconds.

The spirit was very angry. "Don't do anything you'll regret later, Landlord."

Ryou hit the call button, still surprised to have made it this far.

Yugi picked up almost immediately. "Hello? Bakura? Is something wrong?" Yugi's voice was full of concern.

The spirit stopped trying to get the phone and took a few steps back. "If you tell him, none of them will trust you. You'll lose all your friends."

A sudden realization prevented Ryou from saying what he'd intended.

Yugi's voice came through the phone's speaker. "Bakura? Are you okay?"

Ryou turned his attention back to the call. "Yeah. I'm fine. I... I just wanted to thank you again for what you did today. You don't know how much it means to me."

"Oh. You don't have to keep thanking me. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Right. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"See you at school."

Ryou ended the call and put his phone on his desk. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the spirit, who had returned to looking smug.

"I'm glad you've come to your senses, Landlord. This will be much easier for you if you cooperate. Now the first thing you're going to do is--"

"You can't do it anymore, can you?"

The spirit froze. "I don't know what you mean."

"Take over my body. You can't do it anymore." Ryou crossed his arms.

"Of course I can. Don't be an idiot."

"Do it, then." Ryou realized that if he was wrong this was the stupidest thing he could possibly have said, but he was fairly confident that he'd figured out what was going on. He only grew more so as the seconds passed without the spirit stealing control of his body.

The two stared at each other for nearly a minute before the spirit replied. "I just don't feel like it right now."

Ryou laughed. "Whenever you're ready, then." He watched the spirit fume for a few more moments before returning to what he'd been doing before the spirit had shown himself. He slid the last of his school books into his bag. Luckily, he'd already done what little homework he had earlier that weekend.

His mood started to improve. Things were looking up -- it seemed the ritual had worked after all.

"If the ritual had worked, I wouldn't be stuck here with you. The Pharaoh screwed it up."

Ryou snapped his bag shut. "How would you know? All Marik said was that it was meant to expel your spirit from my body. Maybe it was never meant to do more than that."

"Oh, but it was. And had I been in control at the time, it would have. Fortunately for me, the Pharaoh didn't bother to check."

Ryou felt a twinge of annoyance at the Pharaoh, but quickly stifled it. If the Pharaoh hadn't started the ritual right when he did, the spirit would likely have caught on, and he wouldn't even have the freedom he currently did. He could live with this. It wasn't so bad now that the spirit couldn't actually control his body anymore. He could always just ignore the spirit and get on with his life.

The spirit appeared right behind him and hissed in his ear. "You will _not_ ignore me."

But Ryou did just that, deciding to get ready for bed. He brushed past the spirit without looking at him.

He had a moment of pause when he pulled out his pajamas. The spirit had been around when he changed before, but they'd been in the same body. Now the spirit was outside his body watching him. It felt weird.

"Not so easy to ignore me, is it?"

Ryou's determination returned. As far as he was concerned, the spirit wasn't even here. He pushed down the strange thoughts that had started floating around in his head, like curiosity about whether the spirit's clothes would change when his did. It didn't matter. He put on his pajamas and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

The spirit followed him there. Ryou wasn't surprised to discover that he couldn't see the spirit's reflection in the bathroom mirror.

He turned to leave when he was finished and found the now pajama-clad spirit blocking the door. Ryou bit back the 'excuse me' that his natural politeness told him was necessary. The spirit didn't deserve it.

"That's unfair of you, Landlord. I have feelings, too," the spirit mocked.

"I need to get through."

"Do you now?"

Ryou didn't want to play that game. He looked the spirit over. The spirit was transparent, so maybe... No. Ryou had felt him grab his arm earlier. He'd been perfectly solid then. Weak, but solid.

The spirit raised his chin, as if in a challenge.

Ryou reached one arm out toward the spirit, pressing one hand against his chest before quickly withdrawing it. Still solid, then.

"Yes, still solid. And you might think twice about touching me without my permission." The spirit advanced on him, looking distinctly peeved.

Ryou fought the fear threatening to overcome him. He might not be able to take over Ryou's body anymore, but the spirit could _touch_ him now, possibly even hurt him. Ryou lashed out reflexively, shoving the spirit away from him.

The spirit soared backward, out the door and clean through the hallway wall.

Ryou blinked at the undamaged wall in surprise. Perhaps the spirit was not so solid then. He supposed it was too much to hope that the spirit had fallen right out of the building and wouldn't be coming back.

"It's not even worth a moment's thought," the spirit said as he appeared in the hallway just outside the door. He leaned against the wall as though trying to pretend that he hadn't been sent flying right through it a few seconds earlier.

Ryou shrugged. At least he wasn't blocking the way anymore. He walked back to his bedroom and hopped into bed.

"What are you doing?"

Ryou pulled the covers over himself. "I'm going to sleep."

"What am I supposed to do while you're asleep?"

Ryou was getting annoyed. "What do you usually do when I'm asleep?" The spirit looked like he was about to say something, but Ryou quickly continued: "When you _aren't_ roaming around in my body."

"I used to stay in my soul room."

Ryou turned onto his side. "So do that, then."

"If I still had access to my soul room, taking over your body wouldn't be a problem." The spirit sounded frustrated.

"Huh." That was a surprise, but Ryou supposed he didn't know all that much about how the possession had actually worked. "I guess you'll just have to stand around then."

"I'm not about to--"

"Good night." Ryou pulled the covers over his head. He could hear the spirit grumbling, but he was determined not to let it stop him from getting a good night's sleep. He was looking forward to school the next day.


	4. A New Day

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 3)  
**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M (Overall)**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Getting a good night's sleep was easier said than done. First Ryou had to deal with the spirit bothering him, talking and trying to goad him into talking (or thinking) back. The spirit started by walking around the room making insulting comments about his things. Then he moved on to insulting comments about his friends. Ryou was used to ignoring those, and it was even easier now that he knew the spirit couldn't actually hurt his friends, but the constant stream of noise was still distracting enough to prevent him from sleeping.

Eventually, the spirit tired of trying and failing to get a rise out of him and simply left the room. In its own way, this was even worse than the spirit actively pestering him. Now the spirit was just out there somewhere, doing things Ryou knew nothing about.

Ryou heard the spirit laughing at him in his head. _You should have talked to me when you had the chance._

Ryou sighed. He reassured himself that the spirit was probably just seizing the opportunity to torment him further. From what he could tell, the spirit couldn't interact with anything other than him. If he wanted to wander around in his spirit form, then at least he wouldn't be here harassing Ryou. Unfortunately, it still took Ryou another hour to relax enough for sleep to overcome him.

Ryou awoke several hours later to the sound of his alarm. He groaned. He wasn't ready to get up, but he didn't want to be late for school either. He sat up and looked around. The spirit was nowhere to be found. "Spirit?" he called softly.

The spirit appeared immediately. "Yes?"

"Um." Ryou hadn't thought very far beyond calling him. "Nothing. I just wanted to know where you were."

They stared at each other until the spirit broke the silence, turning away from him in disgust. "You're just as dull awake as you are asleep."

Ryou got out of bed and went to grab his uniform. "I'm sorry I can't be more interesting while I'm unconscious."

"You could at least manage more interesting dreams."

Ryou nearly dropped his uniform. "You... you can see my dreams?" He struggled to remember what he'd dreamed that night but failed. He hoped it wasn't anything... A blush covered his face.

"Believe me, it was nothing so exciting," the spirit replied, apparently not feeling it necessary to elaborate on what Ryou actually had dreamed about.

Ryou was relieved. He was about to take his morning shower, which would be bad enough without any additional embarrassment. He carried his uniform to the bathroom with him, wanting to spend as little time unclothed as possible.

"Oh, really now. It's nothing I haven't seen before." The spirit leered at him from the hallway. "And I've _done_ things in that body far worse than just looking at it."

Ryou's blush returned full force, though he tried to tell himself the spirit was just messing with his head. There'd never been any indication of anything... like that. "Well, fortunately you won't ever have that opportunity again." He closed the door in the spirit's face.

Ryou turned on the shower to let the water heat up and took off his pajamas. He sensed the spirit appear behind him and quickly stepped under the water, drawing the shower curtain between them. The spirit walked right through it and stood behind him. Ryou tensed, but continued his shower. He got a glimpse of the spirit out of the corner of his eye, and saw that he was completely naked as well. This unnerved him even more just being naked himself, even though arguably this made them equally vulnerable.

The spirit just laughed at him. "Naked or not, I will never be as weak as you."

_Says the man I threw through a wall yesterday._

"What was that, Landlord?" the spirit asked dangerously.

Ryou thought it best not to answer that. "What did you end up doing while I was asleep?" he replied, hoping to move away from a possible confrontation. He never thought he'd feel _safer_ asking the spirit that question, but there was a first time for everything. "Did you spend the whole time watching my dreams?"

"Hardly." Apparently, the spirit didn't want another confrontation either. "I spent the night exploring my limits."

"Your limits?" Ryou turned toward the spirit, momentarily forgetting the situation they were in. He spun back around immediately on seeing the naked form directly in front of him. He started scrubbing himself at a speed he never knew he had in him.

The spirit chuckled, but didn't comment on his reaction. "Yes, my limits. I can only go so far away from you in any direction."

That made sense. "How far?" Ryou hoped he hadn't been spying on Yugi.

"Not that far. Only to the end of the block."

"But you can go that far in any direction?"

"Yes."

Ryou was torn between not wanting the spirit to be going around causing trouble and being glad the spirit didn't have to be near him at all times.

"It's so nice to know you care."

"But this is good for you, too. If I start to bore you, you can go watch other people." Ryou felt a twinge of guilt at effectively encouraging the spirit to spy on people in possibly private moments, but it wasn't like the people would _know_ the spirit was watching them... _Okay, so that's still creepy. But at least he wouldn't be **doing** anything to them._

"You have such a strong sense of morality, Landlord."

"Hey, I'm not the one wandering around spying on people."

"Actually, _you_ were the one who brought up the idea."

He had a point there. "Yes. Well... I was only imagining the sort of thing you would do."

"Really?" The spirit leaned forward, draping one arm over Ryou's shoulder and speaking directly in his ear. "And if it were your decision, would I be here in your shower with _you_ or spying on one of your poor, unsuspecting neighbors in theirs?"

Ryou froze, more at the fact that the spirit was touching him than at the question he'd asked. The few other times the spirit had touched him so far had been too brief to register much about the feeling. He found it disconcerting – it was entirely unlike the normal touch of another human being. The spirit's arm felt neither cold nor hot against him, it was simply... there. It had almost no weight to it – Ryou felt only a mild pressure where the arm rested on his shoulder.

"Well?"

Ryou returned to his senses. He shoved the spirit off of him and turned off the water. "You'd be here in the shower with yourself," he replied, stepping out of the shower and drying himself off.

"Heh. You won't always be able to get away with that answer. At some point you'll have to choose between other people's interests and your own."

Ryou ignored him, getting dressed and leaving for school without saying anything else.

* * *

Ryou made it all the way to school without getting into another argument. It helped that the spirit did seem content to go exploring the houses between Ryou's apartment and the school. Ryou tried not to think too hard about what he might be seeing inside those houses, but he had no way of preventing the spirit from doing it, so there wasn't much point in worrying about it.

His friends were waiting for him outside the school when he got there. He looked around nervously, but the spirit was nowhere to be found. Ryou wondered if it was because the Pharaoh was nearby.

Yugi broke off from the group to greet him. "Hi, Bakura!"

"Hi, Yugi!" Ryou waved to the others. Tristan and Joey were eagerly discussing something that from the look on her face Téa didn't approve of.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah. A little tired, but I got here okay." The tiredness was more from the spirit keeping him until all hours of the night, but a leftover effect of the ritual was as good a cover as any.

_You lie to your friends so easily._

Ryou started at the spirit's voice. He looked around, but the spirit was still out of sight.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. It's just so new, being able to walk around on my own. I was always so afraid that he'd take over."

Yugi nodded. "He was in your head for... how long?"

"Ten years. Since I was eight." Ryou was glad Yugi didn't seem to be questioning his excuse, but he didn't like where the conversation was headed. "We should get inside."

"Not yet, I told Marik we'd wait for him."

As if on cue, Marik zoomed up to the curb on his motorbike. He jumped off the bike, landing right in front of them. "Hey."

Yugi smiled at him. "Hi!"

Ryou looked him over. He was dressed in his normal clothes and didn't appear to have brought anything with him. "Why aren't you wearing a uniform?"

"Don't have one. I haven't registered as a student, yet." He walked toward the school. "I have to do that now."

Yugi and Ryou trailed after him. "And you're doing it on your own?" Yugi asked.

The three reached the doors and walked inside. "Yeah, Ishizu is too busy at the museum today."

Ryou cringed. "The principal doesn't like students coming in on their own." Ryou himself had shown up alone on his first day, his father having left about a microsecond after he'd handed Ryou the keys to the apartment. He'd thought the process would be fairly simple, given the number of times he'd been through it before, but the principal at Domino High had been unusually difficult to deal with. In fact, at a few points it had been so bad that he'd feared he'd black out and wake up to find the man in a coma, ending his time at Domino High before it had even begun.

Yugi looked puzzled. "Why not?"

"Something about teenagers without proper supervision all turning out to be delinquents." That had been the most intelligible part of the rant, anyway. "Do you at least have all the papers they need?"

Marik pulled a folded and crumpled bunch of papers from his back pocket. "Right here."

"That's something at least." Ryou tried to look on the bright side, not commenting on the state of the papers or the principal's obsession with neatness.

"Maybe we should go with you," Yugi said. "For moral support."

Ryou shook his head. "That would only make things worse. He already hates me because the school can never get in touch with my father." He coughed. "Um. And because of my hair. He says I look like a girl." He eyed Marik's midriff-baring shirt and jewelry. _This isn't going to go very well, is it?_

Yugi nodded reluctantly. "He did once say that my hair looked like an explosion at a paint factory. Right after he accused me of being 'one of those nuts who shut down the entire school district for a card game tournament'."

Marik snickered at that. "I can handle it. Just point me to where the office is."

"Over there." Ryou gestured in the general direction of the office. "Good luck."

Marik headed in that direction. "I'll see you guys later."

Ryou watched him go. "Do you think he'll be alright?"

"I think so." Yugi laughed. "In fact, we should probably be more worried about the principal than Marik." The warning bell rang. "We should get to class."

* * *

Ryou remained spirit-free for a whole hour after classes began. He was mid-way through math when the spirit appeared next to his desk. He kept his eyes trained on the front of the room. Yugi was sitting directly to his right, so he had to be careful not to show any reaction to the spirit. He'd been lucky enough to get away with it earlier that morning.

He tried to squash his curiosity about what the spirit had gotten up to in the time he'd been gone. He wasn't interested.

"Ah, but don't you want to know how your _friend_ the Tomb Keeper is doing?"

Ryou blinked. _Is that where you were?_

"Yes. The ruler of this place seems like he would enjoy a trip to the Shadow Realm. It's a shame I didn't seize the opportunity while I had it."

Ryou shivered. Even if the spirit couldn't steal people's souls from their bodies anymore, it still disturbed him to think about it. _You think that about anyone who happens to be in charge._

"That's because it's true about all of them."

Ryou refrained from rolling his eyes. _How did Marik do?_

"Poorly."

Ryou dropped his pencil. _What? Is he okay?_

"He's fine. And so is the other foolish mortal. The Tomb Keeper only mildly annoyed him. Even the Pharaoh could do better than that." He sat atop the empty desk to Ryou's left and crossed his arms in disgust. "To think I used to work with that idiot. I even let him damage our body for that plan of his."

Ryou retrieved his pencil from the floor._ It's __**my**__ body, not __**our**__ body. And what do you mean you let him--_

Understanding hit him. He rubbed his left arm. He couldn't feel the scar through his uniform, but he knew exactly where it was. He had no idea how he'd gotten it; all he knew was that it had happened during Battle City, or as Ryou thought of it, the Month He Had No Memory Of. He'd never asked the spirit how he'd been injured, fearing what the answer would be.

Yugi and the others hadn't said anything about it either, and he hadn't wanted to bother them with questions they might not even know the answers to. In general, Ryou avoided talking about that month altogether.

_You mean, it was Marik who...?_

"Yes."

Ryou didn't know how to feel about this. He'd known that Marik had done some bad things before he'd turned around, but Ryou was a bit vague on what those things actually were. He knew the spirit had been involved somehow, and that Marik had been suffering from a sort of possession by his own dark side.

The spirit laughed. "They really didn't bother to tell you anything, did they?"

_They don't always remember that I wasn't actually there, _Ryou thought at him. He was almost as annoyed with his friends as he was with the spirit at the moment. He pushed those feelings aside. For all he knew they were waiting until he was ready to ask. It wasn't like he'd wanted to know any of this before now. _Was it Marik or... the other Marik?_

"The ordinary one."

Ryou frowned, gripping his pencil hard. He didn't know Marik very well, but he couldn't envision the boy slashing his arm like that. Then again, he couldn't envision him working with the spirit or doing any of the things Yugi and the others _had_ told him about, and he knew he could trust them far more than the spirit.

"You could ask him about it yourself."

_I don't think that's a good idea._ He doubted Marik wanted to talk about those events any more than he himself wanted to talk about the things the spirit had done. _Anyway,_ _I don't care what he did in the __past. The others gave me another chance. I can give him another chance._

"How magnanimous of you."

Ryou was about to make his mental retort when he felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly jumped sky-high. He turned to find Yugi standing next to him. "Huh?"

"You were a million miles away. It's time for gym."

Ryou glanced around the room. Everyone else had left already. "Er, right. I didn't notice." He got out of his seat. "Math isn't really my favorite subject."

"At least you didn't fall asleep like Joey." The two laughed.

"Why don't you run ahead? I have to put my stuff away."

"Okay. I'll see you there." Yugi waved and ran out the door.

Ryou packed up his things and turned to the spirit. _I can't be talking to you all through every class. You'll have to find something else to do._

"Oh, don't worry about me," the spirit said innocently.

Ryou only shook his head as he left the classroom.


	5. An Exploration of Capabilities

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 4)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others  
**Rating**: M (Overall)**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Surprisingly, the spirit didn't make trouble during Ryou's gym class. Well, didn't make _much_ trouble, anyway. Ryou had to deal with comments about his general lack of coordination, but he'd been enduring far worse from his actual gym teachers for years. Add to that the fact that he had real friends to talk to in his class now and it was possibly the best gym class he'd ever had.

He and the others had lunch right afterward. He still didn't feel entirely comfortable as a part of the group, especially since he was by nature much quieter than Tristan or Joey, but they seemed to be making more of an effort to include him today. Ryou appreciated it more than anything else they'd done for him, and he found it far easier to ignore the spirit while eating and laughing with his friends.

Eventually, the spirit stopped trying to talk to him and started wandering around listening to other students' conversations.

Ryou sat down in history class without a word from the spirit. He hoped the spirit would continue to leave him alone; he couldn't afford to keeping missing what the teacher said in every class. He'd had enough problems getting back up to speed after all the times he'd had to switch schools and effectively missed classes due to the spirit taking over his body.

Ryou had half-expected the spirit to make a rude comment in response to his thoughts, but it seemed the spirit had decided to ignore him in return. He got out his notebook and prepared to take notes.

He focused on the teacher at the front of the room, but out of the corner of his eye, he could still see the spirit wandering around the room. Ryou sucked in his breath when the spirit stopped directly in front of Yugi. He nearly had a heart attack when the spirit leaned down over the boy, putting their faces practically nose to nose.

Ryou was tense for several moments. It wouldn't have shocked him to see the Pharaoh decide to take over Yugi's body right then.

But luckily for him, his worries were unfounded. The spirit stood back up straight and walked past Ryou to the empty desk on his other side. Ryou struggled not to follow the spirit with his eyes as he passed in front of him. His will was strained even more when the spirit waved his hand through the desk several times, then smacked it solidly against the top. There was no sound when it hit and the desk itself didn't move at all, but it did look like the spirit's hand had actually hit a barrier.

The spirit turned to the girl in the next row closer to the front, and repeated the process over again on the girl's head, waving his hand through it several times.

Ryou couldn't hold back any longer. _What are you doing?_

The spirit didn't bother to look at him. "What do you care? I'm leaving you alone."

Ryou winced as the spirit hit the girl's head the way he had the desk, but the girl didn't even seem to notice. _That doesn't mean you can go around hitting people._

"I'm hardly hurting anyone. These fools can't even feel it." The spirit turned his attentions away from the girl to a pencil sitting on her desk. He stuck his hand through the pencil a few times before pressing his fingers solidly against it. "Would you rather I spent my time trying to hit _you?_" The spirit's tone was irritated, but not especially threatening. He seemed to be more focused on the pencil than Ryou.

_I would rather you spent your time not hitting anyone._ He watched the spirit pushing against the unmoving pencil with what looked like serious effort. _What are you even trying to accomplish?_

The spirit took his hand away from the pencil. "That's none of your concern, Landlord," he said, sounding frustrated.

_True._ Ryou returned his attention to the teacher, hoping he hadn't missed anything important. He had, but fortunately for him, this teacher wrote everything on the board as she talked. Ryou copied it all down.

"Why _do_ you have to copy down all that nonsense? These people clearly have no problem producing enough books for everyone. If you ask me, they should write it all down once and save everyone involved several hours of tedium each day."

_Nobody did ask you, _Ryou shot back, annoyed by the glimmer of logic in what the spirit was saying. _And writing it ourselves down helps us pay attention to what we're learning. _As if to prove his point, he returned to copying what was written on the board with a new vigor, only to realize a few seconds later that he was recopying what he'd already written.

The spirit broke out in mocking laughter.

_Oh, shut up_, Ryou replied, though he had to admit that the spirit was kind of justified this time.

When the spirit calmed down, he returned to what he'd been doing before, attempting to interact with various people and objects in the room without success. He remained occupied with this for some time, finally allowing Ryou to focus on what he was supposed to be learning.

A few minutes into his last class of the day, Ryou noticed the spirit was perched on the desk next to him, studying him intently. It grew more and more unnerving as the minutes passed, until the spirit got up and moved to stand behind him. Ryou could sense the spirit at his back, but now he had no idea what the spirit was doing, bringing his unease to a whole new level.

The tension in Ryou's body mounted. The spirit was shifting behind him. Ryou jerked involuntarily when he felt the spirit's hand on top of his head, violently exhaling a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. He saw Yugi glancing in his direction and quickly composed himself. Or at least, composed himself outwardly. Inside he was still panicking. _W-what are you doing?_

"It seems you truly are the only thing I can interact with. I intend to find out what I can do." And with that disturbing declaration, he ran his hand down the side of Ryou's hair.

Ryou forced himself not to fidget. It was like the spirit was... _petting_ him. He supposed it was better than any number of things the spirit could be doing to him right now, but that didn't mean he wanted the spirit to _pet_ him.

He felt the spirit stroke his hair once more before burying his fingers in it. Ryou could tell his hair was physically shifting in place the same as it would if anyone else had been doing it. Ryou had never been more glad to have a seat in the back row. He snuck a glance at Yugi out of the corner of his eye, but fortunately the boy wasn't paying him any attention. _If you keep doing that someone will notice my hair moving itself around._

"Do give me a little credit, Landlord. I would never be caught for such a foolish mistake." The spirit slowly raked his fingers through Ryou's hair. He paused, then took a single hair between his fingers and tugged on it hard.

Ryou expected to feel the short, sharp pain of having a hair ripped out of his head, but it never came. The spirit just wasn't strong enough to pull the hair from his head. The tugging itself wasn't much worse than what he felt from simply combing his hair. Ryou was comforted by this fact, since it meant the spirit wouldn't be able to threaten to pull out his hair.

"Why would I bother to do such a thing?"

_To get me to do things for you_. Ryou had a bizarre vision of the spirit sitting next to him in his bed, pulling out his hairs one by one through the night, until he was half bald in the morning._ Don't pretend you wouldn't do it if you could._

The spirit chuckled. "Such a devious idea, Landlord. I believe my influence must be rubbing off on you."

Ryou was too horrified by the thought to make a coherent response.

The spirit abandoned his investigation of Ryou's hair, instead moving his hand down the side of Ryou's face. He traced Ryou's ear, then drew his finger lazily across Ryou's cheek and down his neck, finally dropping his hand on Ryou's shoulder.

Right through his clothes.

Ryou stiffened. After a moment's thought, he supposed it made sense. His clothes couldn't be considered a true _part_ of him. The spirit's hand felt peculiar on his shoulder, and not only because of its normal inhuman characteristics. The strangest part was that he could still feel the fabric of his shirt touching him in the exact same spot he felt the spirit's hand. It confused his entire sense of touch, as though his body couldn't quite figure out whether there was bare hand on his shoulder or just his shirt.

The spirit lifted his hand and slowly brought it back down again, this time on top of his shirt. Ryou felt his shirt pushed against his skin. The spirit moved his hand and the fabric moved with it, rubbing against his shoulder. _Eh?_

"Your clothes are not completely separate from you. If they were, I would be naked all the time, not only when you are."

Ryou ignored the slightly lascivious tone of the spirit's last statement, instead choosing to be grateful that spirit was _not_ in fact naked all the time, even if it meant the spirit could mess with his clothes. _Um... but they're only a part of me when I'm wearing them, right?_

"Yes. So you needn't worry about me tampering with your precious clothes while you sleep."

Ryou relaxed a little.

"Other than those clothes you wear to sleep, of course."

Ryou sighed. _Of course._

The spirit lifted his hand and brought it over to the collar of Ryou's shirt. He flicked his fingers through the collar, brushing them lightly against Ryou's neck. He did this a few more times before catching hold of the collar properly. The spirit turned the collar every which way, folding it down and bringing it back up, seemingly just to find out if he could. His hand kept touching Ryou's neck, almost caressing it.

Ryou felt a blush rising in his face. What the spirit was doing felt almost pleasurable. Almost.

Maybe a little more than almost.

"So you _like_ what I'm doing, do you?" the spirit purred in his ear.

Ryou squirmed. _Not __**like**__. It's just... not entirely horrible, _he thought resolutely. He never _liked_ anything the spirit did, no matter how good it felt. Which was not to say that it felt good. Really.

Ryou had a sudden mental image of the spirit continuing the caress beyond his neck. He squashed the image as soon as it arose, embarrassed by what his mind had come up with.

The spirit laughed; it was a far softer sound than his usual laughter, but just as full of mockery. Ryou suppressed a groan. It wasn't _fair_ that the spirit knew every thought in his head.

"Life is never fair. But I don't see why you have cause to complain in this case," the spirit said, bringing up his other hand to stroke Ryou's back through his clothes, just as he had in Ryou's imagination.

Ryou leaned forward over his desk, not so much to get away from the spirit as to pull his back away from the chair. It was still strange having the spirit touch him through his clothes; the combination of that and a chair pressing into his back was even more disconcerting.

The spirit continued his exploration, hands wandering over Ryou's neck, back, and shoulders in no particular pattern. Sometimes his hands were on top of Ryou's clothes, sometimes right on his skin. He fiddled with the uniform as though trying find out exactly how much he was capable of affecting Ryou's clothing. Ryou gave up any hope he'd had of paying attention to his teacher – he'd missed nearly half the class already anyway – and put his head all the way down on his desk.

The comfortable feeling combined with the lack of sleep he'd gotten that morning soon lulled him to sleep.


	6. Wake Up To The Future

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 5)  
**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others  
**Rating**: M  
**Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou awoke to Yugi shaking his shoulder. "Bakura, wake up. Class is over. You fell asleep."

Ryou opened his eyes tiredly, not really wanting to wake up just then. "Huh?" He sat up and saw that his friends were crowded around his desk. He yawned, stretching his arms out. He looked around, but he couldn't see the spirit anywhere.

"You fell asleep in class," Téa said. "These guys must be a bad influence on you." She gestured at Tristan and Joey.

"Hey, don't blame us for this," Tristan said.

"Yeah, it's not like we told him to take a nap," Joey said. "Though to be honest, your technique could use a little work. It's better to time the nap so that you wake up just as class ends."

"Oh," Ryou half-said, half-yawned. "I'll keep that in mind next time."

"This is what I mean by a bad influence," Téa said, shaking her head.

Ryou laughed.

The five walked home together. Tristan and Joey eventually broke off to go in another direction; Téa did the same shortly after. Soon Ryou and Yugi were alone.

Or... mostly alone. The spirit chose to show himself shortly after the others parted ways, though he didn't say anything. Yugi was looking a little distant and Ryou recognized the signs of him talking to the Pharaoh. He gave the spirit a warning glance.

"Really, now. You just risked far more by looking at me."

Ryou realized the spirit was probably right about that, but he still feared the Pharaoh being able to detect the spirit's presence somehow. If anyone _could_ do it, it would be him.

"Oh, honestly!" Yugi exclaimed, stopping right in his tracks.

Ryou had a moment of alarm, half-assuming Yugi _had_ seen the spirit somehow. "W-what?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was talking to the Pharaoh." Yugi looked a little uncomfortable. "Um. Listen."

Ryou waited expectantly, but Yugi didn't continue. "What is it?"

"The Pharaoh's being..." Yugi looked annoyed. "...the Pharaoh. He doesn't believe the Spirit of the Ring is really gone."

Ryou forced a blank look onto his face, not wanting to give anything away in his expression. He tried not to panic. This didn't mean the Pharaoh knew anything. Yugi certainly seemed to think the Pharaoh was being paranoid, which suggested he _didn't_ in fact know anything. "I can tell you he hasn't taken over my body since you forced him out. I haven't had any gaps in my memory." All technically true, so it wasn't _really_ lying.

_Heh. You tell yourself that, Landlord._

Ryou focused on Yugi. "Does he think the spirit is just hiding?"

Yugi glanced at a spot over to his right. "He thinks the spirit is trapped in the Millennium Ring."

The spirit took that moment to look incredibly pleased with himself. _It seems the Pharaoh is as clueless as usual_.

Ryou was relieved. The Pharaoh didn't suspect anything then. "So he isn't gone, but he's not possessing me anymore?"

Yugi nodded. "That's what the Pharaoh thinks, anyway." The uncomfortable look returned. "Um... He wants you give us the Millennium Ring."

_What?!_

Ryou almost handed over the ring right then and there, just because the spirit so obviously didn't want him to. He settled on taking it off, but not giving to Yugi just yet. "Does he think this will keep the spirit away from me?"

_It **won't** keep me away from you, so don't even **think** about giving that ring away. _

Ryou frowned. It was true that getting rid of the ring had never helped before. He'd only been separated from it a few times – the spirit normally took over to prevent him from doing it on purpose – and the spirit had still had no trouble taking over his body. The ring itself always seemed to find its way back to him somehow.

Yugi nodded. "We can't be sure, but the Pharaoh thinks it's safer that way."

The spirit planted himself right between Ryou and Yugi._ Don't listen to him, Landlord. If you give him that ring, we'll be stuck like this. Unless you want me next to you for your every waking moment, everyday, **for the rest of your life**, just leave it alone._

Ryou paused. The spirit had lied to him so often in the past, and he knew the spirit wouldn't hesitate to do it now. But the spirit also knew far more about the ring than he did. _What do you mean?_

_I mean that I'm not connected to the ring anymore. I'm connected to **you**. If you give the ring away, we will have no way to put me back._ The spirit closed in on him, grabbing his shoulders and putting his face nose-to-nose with Ryou's. _We'll be like this **forever**._

Ryou turned the ring over in his hands. _Put you back into the ring?_ The thought of not having the spirit around to bother him was tempting, but... _You mean back like you were. Able to possess me again,_ Ryou thought angrily.

_That's not--_

_No. _Ryou shook his arms free of the spirit, flinging him to the ground in the process. He handed the ring to Yugi. He smiled. "Here you go. Good riddance."

_Landlord--!_ The spirit disappeared from the ground and reappeared behind him.

Yugi took the ring from him. "Are you sure?" he asked, though he was already opening his bag to put the ring inside.

"Entirely sure," Ryou replied firmly, paying no attention to the spirit, who had begun ranting at the back of his head. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." He ran off in the direction of his apartment before Yugi could even say goodbye in return.

He slowed down to a normal walk after Yugi was out of sight.

The spirit appeared in front of him, blocking his path. _What did you think you were doing?!_

Ryou walked around him. _Getting rid of your only chance of taking over my body._

_Foolish mortal. This is for the rest of your life. You have no idea what that truly means._

Ryou had to admit that the spirit had a point. He had no idea what his life would be like a year from then, let alone what the rest of his life would be like. But that was the spirit's fault – he'd learned _not_ to think too far ahead, not to have any hopes or goals, simply because he'd known the spirit could take over at any moment and destroy anything he held dear. He couldn't even have known whether he'd be able to go to school on any given day, so even planning as far as the next day had often been futile.

_Don't try to pin this on me._

Ryou reached his apartment building and unlocked the door. _It's your fault I resigned myself to life with you indefinitely. You can't say you never encouraged it._ He climbed the steps to his apartment and went inside.

The spirit fumed silently, unable to argue.

Ryou went to his room and sat down at his desk, pulling out his homework. He started on his math homework first, since it was the most time-consuming. The spirit paced around the room a few times, then sat on Ryou's bed. Ryou managed to get two problems done before the spirit got back up and came over to his desk to pester him.

"Landlord."

Ryou groaned. "What is it now?"

"I have nothing to do." The spirit stood next to Ryou's desk, arms crossed.

"Take a walk. Look around."

"I saw every inch of the area around the apartment this morning. Several times."

"Oh." Ryou turned a page in his math book. "Well, people are awake now. Maybe you'll see something more interesting."

"Nothing I could see in your neighbors' houses is likely to interest me." The spirit leaned over Ryou's desk. "But even if it were, it wouldn't last long. I don't believe you understand the reality of the situation."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I get it. You have nothing to do. You're bored."

"That's not all it is." The spirit put one hand under Ryou's chin, pressing upward. The force wasn't enough to move Ryou's head at all, but Ryou played along, looking up at the spirit.

"What is it, then?"

"I won't have anything more to do tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the day after that. Or the _year_ after that. Even if I hadn't already tired of wandering around your neighborhood, unable to have any effect on anyone or anything, I soon would."

"Perhaps this is your punishment for all the things you've done," Ryou said, trying to sound unsympathetic. But while he was still very angry at the spirit for what he'd done and tried to do in the past, he couldn't help feeling a twinge of sympathy. It was a punishment he couldn't truly wish on anyone, not even the spirit.

"If you help put me back in the ring, you won't have to."

...And the thought of the spirit being able to possess him again killed the little bit of sympathy he'd had. "Not happening."

The spirit made a frustrated sound. "At least find me something interesting to do. You're the only thing I can interact with. If you don't find me something else," he said menacingly, "I'll have to invent my own fun."

Ryou snickered. "What, like rubbing my back again?" He'd have been more worried about the spirit's not-quite-a-threat if over the course of the day he hadn't seen so much evidence that the spirit simply couldn't hurt him. But while he didn't think the spirit could hurt him, he _knew_ the spirit could thoroughly distract him from finishing his homework.

"I'm glad you understand your predicament," the spirit said smugly.

"But you can't touch anything." Ryou looked around the room. "What can you do without..." His eyes lit on the small TV on his dresser. He walked over to it and turned it on. "Here. Even you can watch TV."

"So instead of wandering around watching idiot mortals in your neighborhood, you want me to sit around watching idiot mortals in a box. Marvelous." The spirit stood next to the TV, looking at it like it was utterly useless. "I've never understood the appeal of this thing."

"Well, now you get to find out," Ryou replied. "With all the shows on TV, there has to be something you'd like." As Ryou flipped through the channels, he had to admit that the odds of that might be a little low at the moment. It was still the afternoon, which meant that the programs currently on the air were limited to soap operas, talk shows, cartoons, and TV judges. "What sort of thing do you want to watch?"

The spirit sat back on the bed. "Whatever has the most blood."

Ryou thought he probably should have expected that. "Right now that would be... um... talk shows, I guess." He switched to one at random, finding what appeared to be a couple screaming at each other while the audience jeered. "There'll be more interesting shows on later," Ryou assured the spirit as he returned to his desk, hoping it would be enough to get the spirit to leave him be while he finished his homework.

"There had better be," the spirit replied, though he had already settled in to watch the show Ryou had picked out for him.

Ryou returned to his homework and worked on it with relatively little interruption from the spirit, who had become engrossed in what was happening on the screen. The spirit made the occasional comment about what he was watching -- "Foolish woman. He runs off with your sister and all you can come up with is a slap in the face?" -- but on the whole refrained from actively distracting Ryou from what he was doing.

Once Ryou finished that day's homework, he decided to work ahead. He couldn't know whether the spirit would be this cooperative the next day (or any other day), so he thought it best to get in what studying he could while he had the opportunity.

He called it quits at dinnertime. He hadn't been shopping for a while, so he just heated up a frozen dinner for himself. Afterward he returned to his room and, having nothing else to do, sat down to watch TV with the spirit.

The spirit had gotten completely caught up in an action movie. Ryou hadn't seen the beginning, but the main character seemed to be on a mission to destroy the man who'd murdered his family. The spirit reveled in every henchman's death, in every bit of the villain's property the hero blew up or otherwise destroyed, only complaining when the hero did something stupid or careless just to move the plot along. Ryou didn't know what to make of the spirit's enthusiasm, though he was glad the spirit now had something around to interest him.

Even more puzzling to Ryou was the spirit's reaction to the villain's actions. He seemed genuinely enraged whenever the villain won a minor victory, or had someone killed or tortured to serve his own ends. He'd have thought that the spirit would have been rooting for whoever was the most ruthless and efficient about reaching their goals or even just whoever caused the most bloodshed. It seemed bizarre to Ryou that the spirit could be so angered by what Ryou saw as his normal behavior.

The spirit didn't take kindly to that thought. "Nothing I have done is even remotely similar," he seethed.

Now it was Ryou's turn to be angry. "Really? And what do you call challenging people to shadow games and trapping their souls in dolls?"

"I call it justified revenge."

"Justified..." Ryou could hardly believe what he was hearing. "The first time you did it was on a 10-year-old boy! How could that be justified?"

"He was a bully," the spirit said plainly.

"And the boys at my last school? Those were the first friends I ever made," Ryou said, feeling bitterness at the memory. In some ways it was worse than anything else the spirit had done to him. He'd been so happy at finally making a few friends that what had happened shortly afterward had completely crushed him.

"They weren't your friends. They were luring you into a trap."

Ryou refused to believe it. "They were nice to me. They invited me over to play a game. We were _having fun_."

"Yes, so you should be glad I took over before your memory of them could be tarnished by reality."

Ryou laughed almost hysterically. "As opposed to what _you_ did, which didn't tarnish my memories at all." He knew it wasn't a good idea to continue the argument, but he couldn't help but have a sick fascination at the spirit's twisted reasoning for his actions. "What about _me_, then? What did I do to deserve having my hand impaled on a spike?"

"You prevented me from getting at the Pharaoh," the spirit said fiercely. "No one in this world more deserves to have vengeance rained down upon him than the Pharaoh."

Ryou had no idea what the spirit was talking about, but then he never had known why the spirit hated the Pharaoh so much. As far as he could tell, the only negative things that could be said about the Pharaoh could just as easily be said about the spirit himself. "And what did he do to you? Look at you the wrong way?"

The spirit went completely still, his face a mask of utter fury. "What he did to me is none of your concern," he said, voice low. "But you're well informed enough of ancient history to have a good idea of all the things he would have been freely allowed to do as the great and beloved Pharaoh."

Ryou went quiet. He _did_ know, but he'd never thought about what the Pharaoh would have been like back when he had still been a real reigning Pharaoh in Egypt. He would have had slaves... Ryou snuck a glance at the spirit, who had returned all his attention to the movie. Had the spirit been a slave at one point? There would have been far more peasants and slaves than royalty. It certainly fit with being a thief.

The Pharaoh could also order executions. Maybe the spirit had been executed by the Pharaoh for thievery.

The spirit had to have heard Ryou's thoughts – he always did, after all – but he didn't confirm or deny any of what Ryou had speculated. In fact, he seemed to have decided to ignore Ryou entirely for now. Ryou supposed it was better than arguing. He turned his own attention back to the movie.

Once it was over, Ryou decided to get ready for bed. He packed up all his school things, changed into his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and got his uniform ready for the next day in short order. When he'd finished everything he needed to do, he automatically went to turn the TV off.

"You don't intend on sleeping tonight, then," the spirit said, his tone sharp. "That's good. We'll have such _fun_."

Ryou sighed. "I can't sleep with the TV on." He thought a moment, then unplugged the TV and picked it up, heading for the living room. "Follow me."

The spirit appeared on the couch before Ryou even reached the room, having known what Ryou intended the moment he thought of it.

Ryou set the TV on the coffee table and plugged it in. He turned it on and made sure it was at a low enough volume not to bother anyone (including him). "There. Now you can watch TV all night long." He half-kicked himself for not thinking of it earlier – getting his homework done would have been even easier had the spirit been occupied in another room entirely.

He returned to his room and got into bed. Without any distractions to keep him awake, he soon fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Ryou was sitting at his desk at school. He couldn't remember what day it was or even what class he was in. The clock kept changing times whenever he looked at it, at one point saying it was one o'clock, at another nine. He had a vague idea that there was a teacher at the front of the room speaking, but he couldn't figure out which one it was or what they were talking about.

Ryou noticed fuzzily that the spirit was behind him, running his hands over his back. Ryou also noted that his uniform was missing, which he knew wasn't normal, but he couldn't remember why it was important at the moment. It certainly felt much nicer having the spirit touch his bare skin.

Soon his teacher and the classroom faded away, and he was left sitting in his chair in an empty, shadowy space. Ryou sighed contentedly as the spirit pressed himself against his back, shifting his exploration to Ryou's chest.

Ryou thought he heard the spirit laughing uproariously somewhere in the distance, but found he couldn't keep his focus on the sound for very long. It confused him a little – the spirit was right there with him and definitely wasn't laughing.

The spirit let go of him for a moment, coming around to face him. Now Ryou was no longer sitting in a chair, but on his bed. The spirit pushed him down on his back and leaned over him, slowly continuing his caress down Ryou's chest... over his stomach... further... Ryou gasped.

The laughing grew louder, now accompanied by another sound Ryou found even more irritating. He tried to shake it off, but couldn't, and soon sat up in his bed, blinking his eyes open. He was momentarily bewildered to find that he was, in fact, fully clothed in his pajamas. His gaze drifted over to the source of the laughter, finding the spirit sitting on his desk looking like he'd never seen anything more hilarious in his entire existence.

It took nearly a minute for the fog to fade from Ryou's mind, leaving him fully conscious of his surroundings. He froze in place, his eyes wide and mouth open slightly in shock, his mind now sharply, _painfully_ aware of the situation.

_**Crap**._


	7. A New Nightmare

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 6)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M  
**Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

For the next few moments, all Ryou could do was sit there, mortified. The spirit, for his part, seemed perfectly content to stay where he was and continue laughing at Ryou's discomfort. Ryou was distantly surprised that he hadn't made any kind of comment yet.

"Oh, there will be plenty of time for that later. I intend to _savor_ this."

The spirit's voice jolted Ryou out of his stupor. He turned bright red and fled back under the covers, burying his head under a pillow. He darted out an arm to hit the snooze button on his alarm clock before fully retreating into his blanket cocoon.

Ryou tried to calm his panicked mind by pretending for a moment that nothing had happened. He hadn't had any dream about the spirit, especially not a... a... _disturbing_ one. He wasn't still feeling an uncontrollable buzz of physical excitement beneath his mortification and his body certainly wasn't waiting expectantly for the end of an interrupted dream that had never happened.

As a strategy, it wasn't working very well.

He switched to focusing on his surroundings. _It's nice under here,_ he thought. The pillows were soft. The blanket was warm. Maybe he didn't have to go to school today. Or any other day. Or go anywhere else, for that matter. He could just... stay there, under the covers. Indefinitely. It seemed like a good plan.

Seemed like a good plan until the spirit appeared next to him on the bed, anyway. "Does this mean you expect me to _entertain_ you all day?" Ryou felt the spirit run a single finger down his spine, sending a hot, tingling sensation through his entire body. He choked out a short, flustered cry, threw the covers off and bolted out of the room entirely, leaving the spirit laughing behind him.

He had no idea where he was going when he left the room, but once he reached the hallway, he made a split-second decision and raced into the bathroom. He ran to the shower and wrenched the water handle so that freezing cold water rained down on him full blast. He switched it off in shock a few seconds later and stood there shivering, his heart pounding. He wasn't the most comfortable he'd ever been, but his current physical state was preferable to what it had been.

The spirit appeared behind him in the shower. "The traditional method for eliminating that problem is far less unpleasant."

Under normal circumstances Ryou would have blushed, but thankfully he was too frozen from the water to have much of a physical reaction right then. It didn't make the spirit's words less embarrassing, though. He hadn't... _done that_ since he'd become fully aware there was a presence in his head that could see everything he did. He couldn't very well do it while someone was there watching him.

"I would never have let that stop me," the spirit said, as though not seeing why anyone else would either.

Ryou covered his face with both hands. "_You_ wouldn't," he replied, trying not to wonder whether the spirit was referring to his time in Ryou's body or his former lifetime. It was better for what remained of Ryou's sanity to just assume the latter. He took a deep breath and turned on the hot water. He needed to get back to some semblance of a normal day.

"On a normal day you generally remove your clothes before starting the water."

"This way works just as well," Ryou replied stubbornly. He'd already been soaked through, so there was little point in taking them off now. He washed himself as quickly and completely as he could without taking off his pajamas, which still ended up taking longer than usual due to the added difficulty in rinsing the soap off his body.

"Unless you intend to go to school like this, you'll have to take them off anyway."

"Can't you go watch some more television for a while?" Ryou pleaded.

"Right now, watching you is the more entertaining choice by _far_." The spirit sounded more gleeful than Ryou had ever heard him.

Ryou sighed. "Of course it is." He turned off the water and dried himself off as best as he could in wet pajamas, then dripped his way back to his room. He put on his uniform in two parts, first taking off his pajama top and replacing it with the uniform shirt, then doing the same for his pajama bottoms and his underwear and uniform trousers. This meant that both he and the spirit remained at least partially clothed at all times, which was good for his currently frayed nerves, but it also meant that he got his uniform wet in various inconvenient places.

He quickly gulped down a bowl of cereal, not wanting to go to school without breakfast for a second day in a row. Afterward, he took a moment to throw his blankets back on the bed, grab his stuff, and turn off the TV, then headed out the door.

Ryou's dream consumed most of his thoughts as he walked along. He didn't _want_ to think about it, but his mind just wouldn't let it go. It didn't help that there wasn't much else to take up his attention during that time or that the spirit did his best to feed into Ryou's obsession any way he could.

He lamented that his fevered imagination had chosen _the spirit_ of all people to have a dream about. It was bad enough that the spirit would have seen and mocked him for it no matter who was in it, but it could at least have been about someone else. Like Yugi. Or Téa. Or Joey. Even _Kaiba_ would have been a less upsetting. What sick, twisted part of his mind had decided on...

Ryou halted right in his tracks.

The spirit stopped at his side. "I know what you're thinking, Landlord, and no, you can't blame me for this one. You came up with that fantasy entirely on your own."

Ryou turned slightly pink at hearing it called a 'fantasy'. He shook his head at the spirit's denial. Whether it was true or not, the idea that his mind wasn't in any way responsible for the dream was too appealing to give up so easily. "How do I know you're not lying?" he challenged, too caught up in the argument to notice he was speaking to the spirit out loud in public.

"If I had the power to control your dreams, I would have used it long before now," the spirit replied reasonably. "And as much as I've enjoyed your reaction, I myself would have chosen something _far_ more terrifying."

Ryou nearly protested that there couldn't _be_ anything more terrifying, but he knew very well that it wasn't true. Dreams of horrific violence, dreams of his friends suffering, dreams of his friends hating him... all would have been worse than what he'd experienced. The dream he'd had was also relatively tame as far as it went. The spirit could easily have done worse even if he had decided to torment him with dreams of that nature.

As if to confirm that thought, several images of the 'worse' that the spirit might have inflicted on him filled his head.

The spirit snickered. "Already preparing something for tonight, Landlord?"

Ryou's face burned. _Shut up. _He realized he must have been standing around for some time and looked at his watch. _Ack, I'm going to be late. _He took off running in the direction of the school, relieved to have a different problem to occupy his thoughts for the time being.

Ryou raced all the way to school and made it with a few minutes to spare. He ran into Marik close to the building. "Hi," he said, still panting slightly from the run. The spirit appeared next to him.

Marik gave his clothes a quick glance. "Rough morning?"

"Yeah. I woke up late," Ryou lied. He tried to smooth out his now mostly dry but extremely wrinkled shirt, but the shirt wasn't cooperating. He was going to look like a mess all day. "So, it's your real first day today, right?"

Marik nodded. "Yugi said I'm in your class."

"That's great!" Ryou didn't want Marik to end up left out because he was in a different class than everyone else. He knew too well how that felt. Though, he had to admit Marik would probably have been a lot better at pushing himself forward and making friends than Ryou was.

Ryou noticed the spirit was walking around Marik, looking him over. Ryou wasn't sure why – it wasn't like he'd never seen Marik before.

_I was simply taking in the terrible job he's done of camouflaging himself._

Ryou hadn't seen it before, but the spirit had a point. Marik did look incredibly out of place in his uniform. He still seemed to be wearing most of his jewelry, though it wasn't as easily visible as it was normally. He'd also tied the front of his shirt up so that his midriff was exposed. It displayed even more of his stomach than his usual shirt did.

_You're very focused on other people's bodies today, Landlord._

Ryou blushed, realizing he'd been looking at Marik's bare stomach for longer than was probably appropriate. _Hey, you were doing it first. I was just thinking that Marik's fashion sense and our school dress codes don't mix very well._ He looked back up at Marik's face. "Um. You'll get in trouble if you wear your shirt like that." _And not just with the teachers, either, _he thought but didn't add. The bullies at Domino High could be flat-out insane at times.

Marik looked down. "Oh, like this? You're probably right."

Ryou expected him to do the natural thing and put his shirt back to normal, but Marik made no move to do so. "Don't you care?"

"Not really," Marik replied. "I was kind of hoping the principal would see me."

Ryou's first irrational thought was that Marik had some kind of... _intentions_ towards the man, which frankly disturbed him more than even the dream he'd had that morning. A small "Why?" was all he could muster in response.

"He gave a very long, detailed speech about the importance of wearing proper clothing yesterday." Marik smiled slightly maniacally. "I thought he would like to see what I took away from it."

Ryou was momentarily relieved that it hadn't been anything like what he'd thought, but still cringed at the answer he'd gotten. Ryou was starting to see how the old Marik could have caused so much trouble. If he was this eager to face off against someone who provoked him now, Ryou didn't want to know how he might have acted when he had still been full of hatred and anger. "You really shouldn't antagonize him." His attention was drawn back to Marik's midriff by the spirit, who for reasons known only to himself was choosing to inspect it up close. _H-hey. Get away from there._

The spirit stayed where he was.

"If ever anyone deserved to be antagonized, it's him," Marik replied obstinately.

Now the spirit reached out and poked Marik's stomach with one finger. Naturally Marik didn't notice anything.

Ryou turned pink for what felt like the dozenth time that day. The spirit was setting new records for embarrassing him and it was still only morning. _Stop that!_

_Jealous, Landlord?_ The spirit mocked, moving away from Marik.

Ryou noticed that Marik was looking at him strangely and realized the spirit had probably been actively trying to make him look ridiculous. He wondered how long he'd been standing there staring at him without saying anything. It was always difficult to tell when he talked to the spirit mentally. "Er. You still shouldn't," he blurted out, just to have made some kind of response.

"Okay, if you really insist," Marik said, unknotting his shirt and smoothing it out. "Let's go inside." He was still looking at Ryou with an incomprehensible look on his face, though he sounded cheerful enough.

_Great. Now he thinks I'm really weird._ If Ryou could have glared at the spirit without looking even worse, he would have.

Thankfully, the principal was nowhere in sight when they got inside. The warning bell rang shortly afterward. "We should get to class. I can show you where our classroom is," Ryou said a little too helpfully. He hoped to get Marik inside the classroom before they ran into anyone hostile. Domino High was a minefield of potential bullies, any of whom would love a chance to pick on the new kid.

Marik seemed to know what he was up to, but didn't protest. "Alright."

"It's up the stairs..." Ryou led him up to the classroom.

Téa, Tristan, and Joey were already in the room when they got there, but Yugi was nowhere to be found. Ryou went to his desk. Marik started to follow him, but their teacher pulled him back. "I have to introduce you to the class." She wrote his name on the board.

Ryou put his things down and greeted his friends. "Where's Yugi?" he asked.

"Yugi said he might late this morning," Joey replied. "Wouldn't say what he's doing, though."

Yugi ran in a few seconds later, making it in just before the bell ended. He quickly made his way to his desk.

Ryou saw that Yugi looked almost as disheveled as he did and for one bizarre moment wondered if he'd had a similar dream about the Pharaoh, but he discarded the idea almost immediately. Even if Yugi had had a dream like that about the Pharaoh, Ryou didn't see the Pharaoh tormenting Yugi about it the way the spirit did to him. He had no idea how the Pharaoh _would_ react, but it had to be better than the response he'd gotten.

_Heh. The Pharaoh takes it as given that everyone loves him. He probably wouldn't even understand why his precious host might find it disturbing._

_You have no way of knowing that_, Ryou thought skeptically. It wasn't like the spirit had ever been caught having a suggestive dream about the Pharaoh. Not that Ryou knew about, anyway.

_There's no need to be so disgusting, Landlord._

After everyone was settled down, the teacher introduced Marik to the class and sent him to sit in the back row at the empty desk to Ryou's left. Ryou smiled at him as he sat down.

Class continued as normal after that. The spirit wandered off somewhere for the morning, leaving Ryou free to concentrate on his teachers.

Yugi pulled him aside at lunchtime, telling the others to go ahead and save them a few seats.

Ryou felt a little unnerved, not knowing what Yugi wanted to talk to him about. He didn't seem angry, so it was unlikely that he'd figured out what Ryou had been keeping from everyone, but Ryou couldn't think of anything _good_ that would make the boy specifically seek him out alone today.

The spirit returned to him, not looking especially pleased about this development either.

The first words out of Yugi's mouth didn't help much, either. "The Pharaoh did some tests on the Millennium Ring this morning. He wanted to see if the spirit is really inside."

Ryou steeled his expression, not letting the alarm he was feeling show. "What did he find out?" Ryou forced himself to ask.

Yugi smiled. "Don't worry! The Pharaoh was right."

Ryou was very confused. "Right about what?"

"The spirit's trapped inside the ring."

"He... is...?" Ryou replied slowly, now completely dumbfounded.

_Don't be so obvious, Landlord. As far as he knows, you have no reason to disbelieve him._

Ryou knew the spirit was right in this case. "Um, I mean, how do you know? What did the Pharaoh do?"

Yugi waved his hands. "I don't really understand any of it. But he checked the ring somehow and found a dark presence."

The spirit found this hilarious for some reason and started cracking up. _Foolish Pharaoh. As usual, not even close to the mark._

Ryou wanted to ask the spirit what he meant, but he couldn't do that and focus on his conversation with Yugi at the same time. "And the dark presence is the spirit? How do you know he's really _trapped_ and not just..." Ryou searched for a good word, but couldn't find one. "...Not just _living_ there, like he used to?"

Yugi shrugged. "I don't know. But the Pharaoh says whatever's in the ring can't come out under its own power. And it seems pretty unlikely that there'd be a completely different dark presence in the ring besides the one we already know, don't you think?"

From the way the spirit's mirth increased at that statement, Ryou wasn't so sure. But he wasn't about to let Yugi know that. "You're probably right."

Yugi nodded. "I just thought you'd like to know. Let's get to lunch."

The two walked down to the lunchroom. Ryou had too much occupying his mind to keep up with his friends' conversations. As he ate, he took the opportunity to ask the still-amused spirit about what was going on. _If you're here, why is there still a dark presence in the ring?_

The spirit sat in the empty spot across from him._ Because there's a 'dark presence' in every Millennium Item. They're **dark artifacts** that were created in a **dark ritual**._ The spirit looked very smug at knowing so much more about the items than the Pharaoh, but strangely, Ryou thought he detected a hint of anger and bitterness in that last bit.

_So he'd have found a dark presence no matter which item he tested?_

_Precisely._

Ryou paused in eating his lunch. _We're lucky he only tested the ring, then. If he'd tested any of the other items..._

_Ha! I'd like him to test the Millennium Puzzle. I'd love to see his reaction when he finds a dark presence a hundred times stronger than that in the Millennium Ring. Or should I say, ninety-nine times stronger. _Definite bitterness this time.

Ryou was just bewildered now._ What are you talking about? Why would the Millennium Puzzle be any worse than the other items?_

_That's none of your concern, Landlord. _The spirit disappeared.

Ryou went back to eating his lunch and tried to catch up on what his friends were saying. Toward the end of lunch, when they were about to go back to class, Yugi pulled him aside again, this time with Marik. "Listen guys, the Pharaoh wants your help with something."

"I'm willing to help with anything," Marik replied brightly.

Ryou wasn't that eager. If nothing else, aiding the Pharaoh in any way would likely mean dealing with a disgruntled spirit during and afterward. He had to pick his battles. "What does he want our help with?"

"The Pharaoh's not too happy that the spirit's still in the ring. He wants him completely gone, so--"

Marik interrupted. "I've told you, I don't think the spirit _can_ be in the ring anymore. Even if he hasn't been destroyed, he has to be somewhere else."

Yugi turned his head to the side, as though trying to avoid someone ranting right in his ear. "The Pharaoh, uh, doesn't agree with you. He wants to inspect the ring some more, see if he can get an image of the presence inside it. He's hoping there's a way to purify it."

Ryou could hear the spirit laughing, though he was still out of sight. After what the spirit had just told him about the Millennium Items, Ryou could almost understand why the spirit kept calling the Pharaoh clueless. If the spirit wasn't lying (which was always a possibility), the Pharaoh really had no idea what he was doing. "Um. That's fine, but what does he need us for?" He wasn't liking the idea of being around the ring again. He'd just gotten rid of the thing, and he didn't know what the spirit would do if he had access to it again.

"He needs Marik for help with some of the magic he wants to perform and he needs you because the ring still seems to consider you its owner."

"What?" That wasn't something Ryou wanted to hear, not that it surprised him that much. "But, uh, isn't the Pharaoh worried that the spirit will come out and possess me again? I've only been free for two days." He was a little upset by the Pharaoh's apparent lack of concern for his well-being.

_If it means destroying me, the Pharaoh couldn't care less about what happens to you._

Yugi didn't look that worried either. "The Pharaoh is confident that he can keep that from happening. He wants to do it at the game shop today after school. Can you come?"

"I can come," Marik said immediately.

The spirit appeared behind Ryou. _Say yes._

Ryou was instantly suspicious. _Why?_

_I want to see what he finds out. You need to know what he's up to._

_No!_ Ryoudidn't know if he was telling the truth or if it was just an excuse to get close to the ring for some other purpose, but it didn't really matter. He shook his head. "I... I'm sorry. I don't want to go near the ring again. Not if you think he's in there."

Marik put a hand on his shoulder. "We won't do it, then."

Yugi nodded, looking sympathetic. "Yeah. It's okay, I'll deal with the Pharaoh." He looked like he was already getting an earful from said Pharaoh.

Ryou pulled away from Marik's hand and looked down at the ground. He felt guilty about receiving sympathy from Yugi and Marik over something he'd actually been lying about.

_You could easily solve that problem by doing what they want you to,_ the spirit said helpfully.

Ryou was firm._ No. I'll live with it if it means protecting them from **you**._

_Really now, I'm not even asking you to harm them. I only want to see what the Pharaoh is trying to do._

_He seems to need me to even do it, whatever it is. You won't be missing anything._ Ryou looked back up at Yugi. "He's not giving you too many problems, is he?"

"Nah. He's not happy, but he'll get over it. He'll just have to find another way to do it."

The three walked back to their classroom for afternoon classes. The spirit trailed after Ryou, trying to convince him to tell Yugi he'd changed his mind and would help after all. He didn't stop when class started, standing right in front of Ryou and blocking his view of the teacher.

After a while, Ryou was getting very tired of the spirit's ranting. _How do you know it's not just a trap? For all we know, he knows exactly where you are and is planning something to get rid of you for good._

"If you really believed that, you'd have agreed to go."

Ryou couldn't really argue with that logic. _What I think doesn't matter. It might still be true._

"The Pharaoh is much more obvious than that. He would never have allowed the others near you if he suspected I was still here."

Ryou had to admit that the spirit was probably right about that one, but that really only solidified his intention to keep the spirit away from both the Pharaoh and the Millennium Ring. He wouldn't let the spirit wear him down. If nothing else, the spirit would eventually become as tired of fruitlessly ranting at him as Ryou was of listening to him. Ryou really had no reason to give in – he knew very well that the spirit would always return to ranting at him about something, so he had little to gain by giving him what he wanted.

From the scowl on his face, the spirit himself seemed to have realized how ineffective his approach was. He fumed at Ryou silently for a few moments before something apparently occurred to him that put an unsettling smirk on his face.

Ryou knew the spirit well enough to know that nothing good could come of this. He eyed the spirit distrustfully.

The spirit chuckled, coming around to stand at Ryou's side. "There's really nothing to worry about, Landlord," he said innocently, bringing one hand up to rest on Ryou's shoulder. "I've simply realized what a _terrible_ tenant I've been."

Ryou stiffened. The spirit making references to being a tenant was never a good sign, but at least it wasn't as dire as when he talked about--

"Why, my rent is _months_ overdue."

Ryou's uneasiness grew worse, but he reassured himself that the spirit could no longer 'pay the rent' the way he had in the past. Everyone was safe.

"Yes, you're right about that, but fortunately I've found another method of payment," the spirit said darkly.

Ryou didn't want to find out what that method might be. _You've technically been evicted, so you really, really don't have to pay anything anymore, _Ryou thought back frantically, not that he thought for a minute that this was actually about 'rent'.

"I'd much rather pay you what you're owed. And how better to do that, than by giving you something you _want_?" The spirit moved completely behind him, bringing his hand up to stroke Ryou's throat.

_Something I **want**?_ Ryou felt sheer dread rising inside him. The worst things the spirit did were _always_ twisted variations of something he 'wanted'. Any offhand thought he'd had could become a warped, terrifying reality.

The particular thought the spirit had chosen became abundantly clear when he ran his hands suggestively down Ryou's back.

Ryou sat very still. He was in the middle of class. Now wasn't the time to panic. _You don't really mean to--_

"Oh, but I do," the spirit replied, an undercurrent of sadistic laughter in his voice.

Okay, maybe now _was_ a good time to panic.


	8. Plans Go Awry

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 7)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M  
**Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Though Ryou was freaking out on the inside, he knew he couldn't let it show. Yugi (and by extension, the Pharaoh) was right next to him and would notice if he started acting strangely. _Do you have to do this __**now**__?_ Not that Ryou really wanted him to do it _later_, either.

"Oh, but I owe you such a _large_ debt. I really do need to start repaying it _immediately_." The spirit stroked the back of Ryou's neck.

Ryou fought a groan, more at the physical contact than the words.

His body was tense, his heart pounding in response to his desire to flee, but unfortunately this only further sensitized his skin to the spirit's touch. Every caress sent a confusing mix of signals racing through him, leaving his body a mess of anxious excitement. Worse, the spirit was finding his most responsive areas at an alarming speed, until he barely had to move his hands to leave Ryou biting back a gasp.

Even more disturbing to Ryou was the fact that the spirit managed this without even moving beyond his back and neck.

"Yes," the spirit said, brushing Ryou's hair aside to reveal his ear, "you see, I'm trying to leave something for us to do later this afternoon." He leaned in close, tracing Ryou's ear with one finger. "And tonight." He licked the shell of Ryou's ear. "And _tomorrow_." A soft bite.

Ryou jerked away, a fierce blush covering his face. He folded his arms in front of him and put the side of his head down on his desk. This left his other ear completely exposed, but at least this way he could pretend he was simply falling asleep in class again and Yugi would only be able to see the back of his head. Naturally, Marik would still be able to see the part of his face not blocked by his arm, so he closed his eyes and hoped Marik wouldn't notice he was breathing erratically and blushing bright red as he 'slept'.

Of course, closing his eyes only made him more sharply aware of what the spirit was doing to him. After Ryou's reaction to his bite, the spirit zeroed in on Ryou's other ear, leaning over him and pressing their bodies together while he rubbed the outer part Ryou's ear between two fingers. Ryou shuddered in pleasure before he could stop himself.

"We'll have such _fun_ today," the spirit spoke quietly in his ear. "Unless, of course, you have other plans," he added casually.

_You mean like school?_ Ryou wanted to fire back at him, but he knew very well what the spirit was actually referring to. _I'm **not** going to the game shop. I won't endanger my friends. I don't care what you do to me._

"Really? Are you certain about that?" The spirit switched to mental speech as he ran his tongue over Ryou's ear. _I can't even hurt your friends at the moment, and they have no idea of the sacrifices you're making to 'protect' them._

Ryou panted weakly. He tried not to think about the fact that the spirit was _licking_ him, but the very _idea_ was having almost as much of an effect on him as the physical reality, destroying any control he'd had over his imagination and sending his mind racing with images of other things the spirit might do to him. It was becoming far too much for Ryou to deal with, and soon the only things left in his head were a series of incredibly perverse thoughts about the spirit and a desperate mental refrain of _I __**didn't**__ just think that, I __**didn't**__ just think that..._

He was vaguely aware that the spirit was laughing at him, but was too distracted by his own thoughts and what the spirit was actually _doing_ to him to care too much. The spirit was always laughing at him about something, anyway.

_Just think, Landlord, you can enjoy this for the rest of the day... _He bit Ryou's ear and tugged slightly, making Ryou grip the desk hard. _Or you can spend time with your friends. It's up to you._ He kept his teeth locked lightly on Ryou's ear, moving his tongue slowly over the outer section.

_A-ah! _Ryou was too focused on the spirit's mouth to register what he was hearing. _That __**doesn't**__ feel good, it __**doesn't**__ feel good, I __**don't**__ want him to keep going, I..._

_Landlord._ The spirit sounded mildly annoyed.

_I mean, I'm **not** lusting over him, I'm not even thinking about him, especially not what he's doing with his mouth, or what it would feel like if he--_

The spirit let go of Ryou's ear._ Landlord!_ Very annoyed now.

Ryou's tortured inner monologue stopped for a moment. He barely managed a mental '_Huh?'_ from within his frantic, lust-filled haze.

_You're far too easily stimulated, Landlord, _the spirit thought contemptuously.

_I... I am **not**, _he denied reflexively, too embarrassed to come up with a better response. His awareness was starting to return to him, though his body wasn't any less... _alert... _than it had been.

The spirit chuckled. _If that's what you want to call it._

_S-shut up._ If Ryou could have turned any more red at the moment, he would have. He was starting to think his blood was flowing everywhere but to his brain.

_Heh. Your mind seemed fairly active to me, even if not in a remotely useful sense._

Ryou refused to dignify that comment with a response. He took comfort in the fact that at least the spirit seemed to have given up on physically tormenting him.

_Hardly,_ the spirit replied, wrapping one arm around Ryou's waist and resting his hand on his chest.

Ryou really wished the spirit couldn't put his hands through solid objects. At least then he would have had _something_ to hinder him. _Why did you even bother stopping, then?_

_You became more __**excited**__ than was useful,_ the spirit answered irritably.

_Oh. _Ryou decided to just feel satisfied that he'd interfered with the spirit's plan, however he'd happened to achieve it. His embarrassment was already too strong to get any worse, anyway.

_Don't be so pleased with yourself, Landlord. You haven't seen **anything** yet._ The spirit bit down on his shoulder.

Ryou nearly cried out in pain, not from the bite itself, but from the over-stimulation. _W-wait._

_Why should I?_ The spirit traced small circles on Ryou's chest with one finger.

The sensations had a sharp edge to them now; Ryou's body wasn't pleased about being worked up into such a state and then simply being _kept there._

The spirit's hand started drifting lower. _Does that mean you'd like me to--_

_No! N-not during class, _Ryou thought desperately. _O-or any other time, either, _he added lamely. _But definitely not during class._

_As you wish,_ the spirit mocked, his hand remaining low on Ryou's stomach, taunting him.

Ryou wondered if the spirit was being more cooperative because he thought Ryou was near his breaking point. Ryou _was_ starting to question his own decision. He didn't have any specific reason to think the spirit was necessarily going to do something harmful. As far as he knew, the spirit really was paranoid and obsessed enough to need to know everything the Pharaoh got up to even if he didn't intend to interfere. The ritual that the Pharaoh had sprung on them two days earlier could only have made this tendency stronger.

All the same, Ryou knew he could never risk letting the spirit hurt his friends. He didn't want to give in, but... Ryou bit his lip.

The spirit stilled his hand. _I wasn't lying when I said I wouldn't harm your friends. I __**can't**__ do anything to them at the moment._

It seemed true enough. If he had the ability to harm them, it certainly wouldn't be limited to the game shop. But there was still the ring...

_If I knew exactly how to put myself back into it, I would have done it before you even had the opportunity to give it away. _The spirit sounded highly frustrated. _I haven't discovered anything new in the past day. Unless you believe I learned a new way to do it from the television, you're well aware of that, too._

That was also true. But it wasn't enough to convince Ryou to go.

_You know, if you insist on this policy of keeping me away from the ring, you won't be able to visit your friend any other time, either._

Ryou blinked. He... hadn't thought of that, but it was entirely true. A large part of his will cracked with the realization. He wanted to protect his friends, protect himself, but... that was one expense he wasn't sure he could handle. He very much wanted to give in now, but if he did, the spirit would continue to use the same method to extort things out of him over and over.

_If I can't use it for extortion, then I will use it for entertainment. And while I need you lucid to extort anything useful out of you, my personal entertainment has no such requirements_.

Ryou understood clearly what the spirit was threatening – he could easily turn Ryou into a moaning, gibbering mess right here in front of his friends and classmates. Ryou wasn't so sure he actually _would_ go that far, given that it would pretty quickly reveal his presence to the Pharaoh, but Ryou knew he probably had plenty of other ways to use this against him without that disadvantage.

So, really, he was doomed no matter what he did.

_Very astute, Landlord._ The spirit sounded extremely smug.

Ryou still hesitated. _If I agree to go... you have to agree to stay away from the ring._

_Agreed, _the spirit replied, a little too easily.

_I mean it, _Ryou added forcefully. _If I see you getting too close to it, I'll run out and say I got too scared to continue_. Ryou wasn't afraid of being seen as a coward, especially if it was to prevent something terrible from happening to his friends.

_I would hardly put myself close to the ring while the Pharaoh is looking for me in it. I will observe quietly from the shadows._ The spirit dropped his hand from Ryou's chest._ Now, tell your friend you would love to participate in his little investigation._

_Let me calm down first._ Ryou's face was still hot and he was certain Yugi would be able to see something was off just by looking at him.

The spirit seemed to agree with him. _Don't take too long. _He pulled back.

Ryou sighed softly in relief. He breathed in and out slowly, forcing his body to relax. It didn't completely work, but at least nothing would be immediately obvious just from looking at his face.

He sat back up, stretching his arms a little, but not so much that the teacher would see. He took a sheet out of his notebook and scribbled a note to Yugi. _If you still want to do it, I'll come._ He folded it over and passed it to Yugi while the teacher's back was turned.

Yugi read the note and looked over at Ryou before scribbling something back and returning it.

_Are you sure?_

Ryou looked at Yugi, who seemed concerned. He nodded firmly, trying not to let his dread show. He turned his attention back to the teacher, trying to follow along even though he'd already missed half the lecture. The spirit left Ryou alone for the rest of the school day, only reappearing when his last class ended.

Yugi spoke to him immediately after the bell rang. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"I know." Ryou tried to look enthusiastic. "I want to."

Yugi didn't seem to be buying it. "What changed your mind?"

"If I keep avoiding the ring I ever won't be able to come to the game shop again," Ryou said, echoing the only convincing argument the spirit had made. "Or at least, not until the spirit is gone, which might be a very long time from now."

"Oh," Yugi replied, looking like he hadn't thought of that either. "Well, we could find some way..." he trailed off, clearly not having any specific ideas yet on how to solve the problem. Ryou doubted the Pharaoh would allow the ring to go outside what he considered a secure location. "I mean, we wouldn't just leave you unable to ever come to my house," he said adamantly.

Yugi's reassurances made Ryou feel both better and worse at the same time – better because he knew his friend cared about him, worse because he felt terrible deceiving him. "It's okay. If I help the Pharaoh, he'll be able to get rid of the spirit faster. It's better to do it as soon as possible." Ryou ignored the spirit's laughter at what he was saying.

Yugi nodded. "I guess you're right. Let me go tell Joey we can't play Duel Monsters today..." Yugi walked off.

Ryou turned back to pack up his stuff and saw Marik standing on the other side of the desk.

"It's perfectly safe, you know," Marik told him. "I know the Pharaoh says there's something still in the ring, but I'm certain it can't be the spirit." Marik smiled. "So you don't have to worry about the spirit coming out of the ring to get you."

"What makes you so sure he's not in the ring?" Ryou asked.

"Yugi called me over yesterday afternoon. I was there when the Pharaoh did his first test on the ring."

"And you don't agree with what it said?"

"I don't agree with what the Pharaoh thinks it said," Marik corrected. "I know he inspected it some more after I left and possibly even more this morning, but I don't think it makes any difference. There's something else in that ring... I'm glad we're going to find out what it _really_ is."

_Heh. He says that **now**, anyway._

The spirit's words unnerved him. _What do you mean?_

_I mean that these fools won't like finding out anything even close to the truth about these items._

Ryou couldn't believe that. _It might not be nice, but I'm sure they'd always rather know the truth. Whatever it is. _It wasn't like he himself knew what 'the truth' meant in this case.

_Yes. Of course. That's why you yourself are always so honest with them._

_T-that's different, _Ryou thought back, though he knew it wasn't, really.

The three walked over to the game shop, the spirit trailing after them. They greeted Yugi's grandfather and headed straight through to the back. The spirit stayed outside the door as they entered Yugi's room.

"Sit down here," Yugi said. "I'll be back in a minute." He picked up a large intricately carved bowl off of his desk and carried it out of the room.

Ryou looked at the other object on Yugi's desk – a box that he was sure contained the Millennium Ring. He eyed it warily.

Marik saw him. "You know, there's still time to back out if--"

"I'm fine," Ryou interrupted, sitting down on the floor. He smiled at Marik, feeling a little bad at cutting him off so rudely. "Sorry. I mean, I just want to get this over with."

Marik gave Ryou's shoulder a small pat and sat down next to him.

Yugi came back into the room with the bowl full of water and set it on the floor. He took the box off his desk and joined the others on the floor so they sat in a circle around the bowl.

Ryou glanced over at the doorway and saw that the spirit was still watching them from just outside the room. He was relieved that the spirit actually seemed to be doing what he promised, keeping his distance from the ring while they were here. He looked back at Yugi, who had set the box down. "What do I have to do?"

Yugi shook his head. "I'll let the Pharaoh explain that." The Millennium Puzzle glowed brightly, transforming Yugi into the Pharaoh.

Ryou forced himself not to look over at the spirit again, however much he wanted to see his reaction. The Pharaoh was far more likely to be suspicious of him than Yugi had been. He couldn't take any chances.

The Pharaoh only nodded at them in greeting, opening the box and pulling out the ring. He held it out to Ryou. "Hold it over the water with your right hand." It didn't sound like a request.

Ryou saw that the cord had been removed from it, so he would have to hold the ring itself. This made him even more uncomfortable than he was already, but he still took the ring from the Pharaoh, wordlessly obeying the Pharaoh's instructions. The Pharaoh hadn't been specific on how he should hold it, so he gripped it from the top, letting the spikes hang down over the water. Nobody corrected him.

The Pharaoh looked in Marik's direction. "You have the words?"

Marik nodded and pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "I copied it down phonetically, like you said."

Ryou wondered just how much stuff the two had been getting up to without him noticing. Probably a lot, he realized, even just for the ritual a few days earlier. He would feel glad to be included right now if he hadn't had to worry about the spirit.

The Pharaoh gestured at Ryou. "Give it to him."

Ryou took the paper with his left hand. His right arm was already starting to get tired from being held out in one position for too long, but he didn't know if moving it around would cause a problem or not. He tried to read the words on the paper, but he couldn't make sense of any of it. He assumed it was probably in Ancient Egyptian. He wondered what it said.

_It's words to draw out an image of the presence in the ring so it can be seen in the water,_ the spirit told him. _It will make the form of the entity visible without allowing it to influence anything around it. It seems the Pharaoh was actually being honest about his intentions._

_Even you always thought he was in this case,_ Ryou thought back. He looked up at the Pharaoh. "Um. Should I try to read this, or..."

It was Marik who answered him. "Read it out loud as best as you can. If you get it wrong, it'll just do nothing. We can try it again as many times as we need to."

Ryou felt somewhat reassured hearing that this wasn't dependent on his ability to recite an Ancient Egyptian spell perfectly on the first try. "Okay. Here I go..." He read the words off the paper as best as he could.

Nothing happened at first. Ryou was starting to think he'd gotten it wrong and would have to do it again, when the water began to shift and grow dark. It changed colors several times before settling on a dark purple that covered the entire surface. Ryou was beginning to wonder what a large purple blob was supposed to tell them when the purple started to spread beyond the water to the floor beneath the bowl.

Ryou nearly dropped the ring in shock, but he managed to keep hold of it as he instinctively retreated away from the disturbing purple mass. "W-was that supposed to happen?" But Ryou already knew the answer from the looks on the others' faces.

Marik backed away from the still-growing purple entity.

The Pharaoh stood up. He gestured for Ryou to move even farther away. "Keep away from it. It should have disappeared when you moved the Millennium Ring. It's a very bad sign that it hasn't."

Ryou obeyed immediately, not wanting to be any closer to the... whatever it was... than he had to be. He stood up, grabbing Marik's arm to pull him up with him, then moved several feet away toward the door. The color was spreading more quickly now, and in one spot had formed a terrifying patch of red that almost looked like an eye. It seemed to be looking directly at him.

He heard a terrible roar so loud that it felt like it came from the room itself. He covered his ears, but it didn't block the sound even a little.

He stumbled back a step when the visions started. Gruesome images flashed right before his eyes – an old man being slaughtered, a woman and her child skewered on swords, a family being burned to death in their own home, countless bodies being piled into something large and horrifying--

Ryou felt someone frantically shaking and yelling at him.

_--the bowl, you idiot, go knock over the bowl!_

Ryou was too frightened to doubt the spirit at the moment. He ran over to the bowl and kicked it hard, sending water everywhere and the bowl itself shattering against the wall. The monstrous image on the floor folded back in on itself and disappeared.

Afterward he just stood there, staring at the space where the bowl had been, wondering what the hell they'd almost unleashed on the world.


	9. A Short Interlude

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 8)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others  
**Rating**: M  
**Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

The spirit had not expected anything earth-shattering to happen. Once he'd seen the exact spell the Pharaoh wanted his landlord to use, he'd leaned back against the doorway and waited smugly for a clear, bright image of the Millennium Ring itself to appear in the water.

He had _not_ been expecting Zorc to appear.

At first he hadn't even realized what it was – he'd thought the foolish boy had mangled the spell so badly that all it would show was a meaningless blob. Then the color had spread beyond the boundaries of the bowl and he'd refused to believe it.

_Impossible. Zorc can't be summoned without **all** the items. He also isn't properly **in** the ring, so this spell shouldn't reveal him._

But the presence had continued growing, followed by an ear-splitting roar and the resurgence of memories he'd never wanted to see again as long as he existed – his mother, father, brother, cousins, all killed by the Pharaoh's soldiers, their torturous deaths parading in front of him one by one. It all flashed by in an instant, sending him into a blind, helpless rage before finally confronting him with the image he hated most of all – a small, terrified boy crying pathetically in his hiding spot.

He turned his wrath on the small boy. S_top being so weak! They're killing your whole family! Go out there and slaughter them all with their own weapons!_

The boy couldn't hear him.

The spirit broke his mind free of the vision with sheer force of will and looked around. His host, the tomb keeper, and the Pharaoh were all standing around in shock, staring into space while Zorc's form grew. The spirit ran over to the bowl and kicked with all his power. The water didn't even ripple. He growled in frustration, fighting the visions that were trying to seize his consciousness yet again.

He ran back over to his host and shook him as hard as he could, yelling at him through their mental link to reach him over the noise in the room. _Landlord! You need to knock over the bowl!_ He continued this refrain for a full minute, at several points only narrowly avoiding being drawn back into the nightmare of his past.

His host finally came to his senses, doing what he was told immediately without question. _Heh. If only he were always this obedient._

The spirit surveyed the now quiet room, crushing his feelings about what he'd been forced to relive deep down inside him. His host was in the middle of the room staring at the ground. He could hear the thoughts meandering around his head – mostly fearful questions about what had just happened. The spirit glanced over at the tomb keeper, who was standing dazed in the doorway.

Finally, he looked at the Pharaoh. What he saw jolted a laugh out of him. His host's kick had sent the water flying all over the place, leaving the Pharaoh wet from head to toe. The spikes in his hair were limping in several opposing directions, and at the moment he seemed to be trying to wring the water out of one of them. He looked completely undignified. At least the spirit could now say he'd gotten something out this fiasco.

His laughter drew his host's attention. _What's so...?_ He saw the direction the spirit was looking in. _Oh, no!_

The spirit rolled his eyes. _Really, Landlord. Surely the Pharaoh's dignity is a small price to pay compared the alternative._

He could feel his host's agreement with that statement. _But still..._ His host walked over to the Pharaoh. "Um. I'm sorry I got water all over you. I didn't really have time to aim." His host's gaze fell on the fragments of the bowl. "A-and your bowl. I didn't mean to break it. I'll replace it. If that's even possible."

The spirit could feel the guilt radiating off of his host. _Don't feel guilty, you fool, you saved these idiots from their own stupidity._

Now a wave of annoyance. _Hey, you're the one who forced me to come here. You had no idea what was going to happen either. If they're stupid, you are too._

_At least I knew how to stop it._

His host ignored him in favor of the Pharaoh, who'd put both hands on the boy's shoulders and was looking him right in the eyes. The spirit scowled. It was just like the Pharaoh to forcibly redirect others' attention to him like that. "It's all right. You did a good thing. If you hadn't kicked it over when you did, who knows what would have happened?"

_Apparently not you, _the spirit thought contemptuously. He hated the warm feeling that ran through his host at the Pharaoh's words. He was always so desperate for approval from others. He'd do anything if he thought it would make other people like him, even it meant harming himself in the process.

The tomb keeper joined them, apparently having regained his awareness of the world around them. He gave the boy's arm a gentle rub. "Thanks for pulling me out of the way of that... thing..."

The spirit glowered as his host flushed pink at all the praise he was getting. He shouldn't let other people affect him so strongly. It was a weakness that could easily be used against him.

"What _was_ that thing?" His host was still looking at the Pharaoh, but the spirit could tell the boy wanted to ask _him_ just as much, if not more.

The spirit didn't say anything. He could tell his host all about it later if he felt so inclined. Right now he wanted to hear the Pharaoh try to come up with an explanation for what had happened.

The Pharaoh dropped his hands from the boy's shoulders and crossed his arms. "I'm afraid that's not so easy to explain."

The spirit laughed. _In other words, he has no idea._

His host responded without looking at him. _Do __**you**__ even know?_

The spirit debated keeping how much he knew about the entity a secret, but decided it would be easier to gain his host's cooperation later if he didn't claim not to know anything about it right now. _Of course I do._ _But it's not something that should have been in my ring._ It wouldn't do for his landlord to believe he'd allowed them to draw it out on purpose, especially since he actually hadn't in this case.

His comment made his host remember that he was still holding the ring. He held it up to the Pharaoh, who took it from him. "What are you going to do with it?"

The Pharaoh stuck it back in the box it had been in. "I will keep it in here. I wish there were a safer option, but this will have to do for now."

The spirit could feel his host's unease at the Pharaoh's plan, but the boy didn't mention his concerns. "Uh. Why did it go outside the water? Did I do something wrong?"

The Pharaoh didn't have an answer for that, either. "That's a very good question. You did just fine, so the reason it escaped the boundaries is still a mystery."

The tomb keeper spoke up just then. "Actually, I have an idea about that. It... it's not a very pleasant thought, though."

The Pharaoh gestured for him to continue.

"What if it's there's only a small _piece_ of whatever that thing was inside the ring and the rest is somewhere else?"

_Heh. Perhaps the tomb keeper isn't as stupid as I thought._ Zorc could never be contained within a mere ring, not even the Millennium Ring. But a piece of Zorc was an entirely different matter.

It disturbed him that there could have been a piece of Zorc inside the ring without him knowing about it. He knew that ring inside and out. There was no way he would have overlooked a bit of Zorc's essence within it.

This led the spirit to the conclusion that the piece of Zorc had been initially hidden inside _him_, not the ring, and he'd had no idea it was there. It might have possessed him at any time. The thought of Zorc being able to take him over the way he took over his host infuriated him. He didn't even know how the thing had done it. It certainly hadn't been part of their deal.

Which as far as he was concerned meant the deal was off.

Oh, he would still have his revenge against the Pharaoh, of course. He would simply have to go about it in a different way than he'd intended. And going back into the ring wasn't an option anymore, either. He would have to find another way to regain his power.

It seemed he had a large amount of thinking to do.


	10. Knowledge Is Key

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 9)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.  
**A/N**: Special thanks to everyone who's been leaving reviews. I've never written anything even nearly this long before and they've been a huge motivation to keep me going :)

* * *

Ryou couldn't have been more relieved when the Pharaoh told him what had happened wasn't his fault. He didn't know what he'd do if that thing had nearly come to life because he'd spoken the words incorrectly or made some other catastrophic mistake. A lack of disagreement from the spirit only solidified his confidence that it had to be something else.

And then Marik had said that the ring only contained a fragment of the monstrous entity, with the rest being _somewhere else_. "What do you mean? Where's the rest of it?" Ryou actually wished the spirit would chime in with information, since he'd already claimed to know what the thing was, but after Marik's words he'd gone quiet. He didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation anymore.

Marik held up his hands. "I don't know. I think we'd notice if it were free in our world, though. The Shadow Realm, maybe?"

A thought occurred to Ryou based on something the spirit had said earlier that day. "What if there are other pieces in the other items?" He glanced at the puzzle. The spirit had claimed that there was a dark presence ninety-nine times stronger than the ring's inside the puzzle, an oddly specific figure. Had he been talking about that thing? Of course, the spirit was also claiming that the entity shouldn't have been in the ring at all, so for all Ryou knew he'd meant something else entirely.

The spirit made no move to confirm or deny anything he'd thought.

The Pharaoh shook his head. "I'm certain there isn't anything in the puzzle, though perhaps in the other items."

_The spirit had no idea that thing was in the ring. Would the Pharaoh really have any way of knowing either?_ Ryou was horribly torn. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't very well use that reasoning on the Pharaoh. "Are you sure you would know? Is there a way to check without risking..." Ryou trailed off, not knowing a good way to finish that question. 'The end of the world' seemed too melodramatic.

"We could use the spell we did yesterday," Marik pointed out. "It would at least tell us whether there's a presence within the items we have. It didn't trigger anything when we used it on the ring."

"My presence in the puzzle may give mixed results," the Pharaoh replied. "Testing the other items we have available is not necessarily a bad idea, however." The Pharaoh walked over to Yugi's bed and pulled out a box from underneath. He opened the box to reveal the Millennium Rod and the Millennium Necklace, then placed it on the bed.

"We can do the test a little later," Marik said, going over to the wall to pick up the broken pieces of the bowl. "There's something about that... thing... that I'm still wondering about."

Ryou rushed over to help him pick up the pieces. He'd been the one to break it, after all. "What is it?"

Marik picked up a cloth bag off of Yugi's desk that was roughly the size the bowl had been. Ryou wondered if that's what it had been kept in when it was still whole. Marik slid the pieces inside. "While that thing was taking over the room, I had this weird vision. I'm sure it was in Egypt. People were being killed and... not just in _normal_ ways," he said.

Ryou followed suit, placing his pieces in the bag as well. "I think I had the same vision," he said, shivering. "And there was this horrible cauldron thing with all the dead bodies..." He closed his eyes for a moment and was assaulted by the memory of what he'd seen.

_Stop thinking about that!_

Ryou's eyes flew open at the spirit's angry words. _What **was** it? Why do you care if I think about it?_ If anything, he'd have thought the spirit would love to see him plagued by horrifying mental images.

The spirit walked away from him, plopping himself down on the bed and refusing to look at him. _It's none of your business. That's what it is._

Ryou turned his attention back to the others.

"I saw something like a cauldron, too," Marik said, "but it was mostly people being slaughtered by soldiers."

"I had my own vision, as well, and it was similar to what you're both describing," the Pharaoh said.

"Maybe it was a threat," Ryou speculated. "To show us what it intended to do when it got free..."

"But wouldn't the _thing_ have been in the vision, then?" Marik asked. "It was horrible, but those were human soldiers. Not modern ones, either. I think it was a vision of the past."

Ryou had to agree that the soldiers didn't look modern. _They were using swords,_ he remembered, more clearly than he wanted to. Ryou looked at the Pharaoh. "Could it have been from the time of the Millennium Items?"

"Perhaps it was a vision of my past," the Pharaoh said. "Those may have been my people being attacked in that village."

The spirit began to laugh. It was very soft at first, softer than Ryou had ever heard the spirit laugh, but it quickly grew louder, more delirious, until Ryou was half-convinced that the spirit had finally gone well and truly insane. Ryou wanted to know what had set him off, but was too afraid to ask.

_Oh, you want to know what's so **funny** about all this?_ The spirit left his position on the bed and made Ryou even more apprehensive by standing directly in front of the Pharaoh.

Ryou couldn't have been more grateful that the two couldn't physically interact at that moment.

_Don't worry, Landlord, _the spirit assured him darkly, _even if I could, I would never do anything so simple... or so obvious._ The spirit was no longer laughing, only glaring at the Pharaoh with a furious, deranged expression on his face. _I merely find it amusing that the Pharaoh can no longer even recognize the uniform worn by his own men._

_W-what?_ Ryou couldn't possibly be hearing that right.

The spirit gave him a disgusted look. _You heard me just fine,_ he said, stalking back over to the other side of the room.

Ryou didn't know what to think. The spirit lied to him all the time, about anyone and anything he wanted to. But... Ryou had never seen him react that strongly to anything. He glanced at the Pharaoh, who seemed to be contemplating his Millennium Puzzle. Ryou paused, summoning the courage to ask the question he knew he needed to ask. "Who do you think the soldiers were?"

The Pharaoh frowned. "I don't know. They may have simply been bandits."

_Yes, bandits always dress up in identical uniforms and use equally distributed matching weapons,_ the spirit said sarcastically.

Thankfully, Marik spoke up then, giving Ryou a way out of having to repeat the unsettlingly valid point the spirit had just made. "They didn't really look like bandits to me. I don't think they were stealing anything, just... killing all those people. And bandits wouldn't have any reason to put the bodies in a cauldron."

The Pharaoh nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right."

"Who were they, then?" Ryou couldn't let this go. If the spirit was telling the truth...

"I think it had to be an army," Marik replied. "There were lots of invading armies around that time."

"Is there any way to tell who they were from the clothes they were wearing?" If the spirit could really do it so easily, surely they could manage it somehow.

"We can try. I'll ask Ishizu. I'll have to tell her what happened to this, anyway." Marik held up the bag containing the shattered bowl.

"That was yours?" Ryou felt guilty again. "I--"

Marik put his free hand over Ryou's mouth. "Don't apologize. As far as I'm concerned, you saved us all from certain doom." He gave Ryou a pat on the shoulder before dropping his hand. He went to put the bag over with his school things.

The Pharaoh picked up the Millennium Rod. "We should begin our tests on the other items."

"Now's as good a time as any," Marik agreed. He sat on the floor off to the side and gestured Ryou over.

Ryou sat down next to him, glad not to be the one in the middle of the spell this time. He held his breath when the Pharaoh held the rod out in front of him and began to speak in Ancient Egyptian, fearing that another monster would materialize in front of them. Fortunately, all that actually appeared was a faint black aura surrounding the rod. It faded shortly after the Pharaoh stopped speaking.

The Pharaoh seemed perplexed. Ryou looked at Marik and saw a similar expression on his face. "Um. It turned black, so does that mean there's another piece of that thing in there?"

Marik shook his head. "If there is, it's not anywhere near as strong as the other one. The ring was practically oozing black smoke all over the place." Marik rubbed his face. "I don't know which I like less: the idea that there's another tiny piece of that thing in the Millennium Rod or the idea that we have _another_, as yet entirely unknown dark force to deal with."

The Pharaoh put the rod back in the box. "The dark presence is too faint to be a serious threat. It may be nothing more than a residue left over from when you were still using it for ill purposes."

Marik winced at the Pharaoh's words, but quickly recovered. "You might be right."

"Testing the necklace will tell us for certain." The Pharaoh picked up the necklace and held it out in front of him, speaking the same words he had with the rod. The necklace emitted the same dim black aura the rod had.

"I _know_ Ishizu couldn't have done anything to cause that," Marik said adamantly.

"I agree," the Pharaoh replied. "This raises many questions."

"What if the darkness is just a part of the items themselves?" Ryou asked, remembering what the spirit had told him earlier. "Something that's always been there, I mean." He fidgeted uncomfortably when both the Pharaoh and Marik turned to stare at him.

"It's possible, but that would make the items..." Marik trailed off.

Ryou opened his mouth to ask exactly what it made the items, but the Pharaoh spoke first. "That could only be the case if the items were created in darkness." The doubt was clear in his tone. "It is far more likely that they became tainted in whatever incident resulted in my memories being sealed away."

The spirit laughed bitterly. _Yes, you keep telling yourself that._

Ryou didn't know who to believe. The spirit clearly knew more about the items, but even he hadn't been expecting what had happened earlier. Then again, the Pharaoh hadn't either, and he didn't seem to have any clear reason for asserting that the items had been tainted sometime after their creation other than wanting to believe it was the case. For all Ryou knew, they were _all_ making completely baseless claims about the items.

The spirit seemed oddly pleased about that thought. _Heh. Perhaps you're finally learning not to trust every little thing your __**friends**__ want you to believe._

_I still don't trust you either,_ Ryou thought back. _And thinking they might be wrong about something isn't the same as thinking they're lying._

_What does it matter? You still suspect them of giving you incorrect information._

_It matters because it means I can still trust their intentions, _Ryou replied firmly. _And their friendship._

_You already know their friendship cannot be counted on._

_What do you mean?_ Ryou asked, though he was certain it was just the spirit making wild, paranoid accusations again.

_If you truly thought you could count on them, you would have revealed our current situation to them the instant you discovered it. If your friends would stick by you no matter what, why even bother keeping it a secret?_ The spirit didn't sound the slightest bit worried that Ryou might actually challenge his assertion by telling his friends everything.

_Because I don't want to worry them. _Ryou knew it was a lie, and a weak one at that, but he couldn't face his true fears at the moment. He'd already had more than enough for one day just from the monster they'd summoned.

Fortunately, Marik started talking just then, saving Ryou from further depressing conversation with the spirit. "If that's all we're doing today, I really have to get going." He eyed his bookbag with a pained look on his face. "I have _a lot_ of homework to catch up on."

The Pharaoh agreed. "Our next move shouldn't be taken without careful consideration." And with that, the Pharaoh abruptly disappeared, leaving Yugi standing in his place.

"Hi, guys," Yugi said cheerfully. His expression turned perplexed as he felt his wet hair. "Why am I--" he cut off, eyes focused off to his side.

"I think the Pharaoh can explain it better than we can," Marik said.

Yugi nodded absently. "I'll see you guys at school tomorrow," he replied, mind clearly somewhere else.

"See you later." Ryou picked up his things and left with Marik.

* * *

Ryou started walking in the direction of his apartment. The spirit wandered off to the side, seeming lost in thought.

Marik followed Ryou along the street. "The library is around here somewhere, right?"

"Yeah, it's over that way," Ryou said, pointing in the general direction of the library. "Going there to study?" He couldn't really imagine Marik as the studious type.

"Ugh. More like going there to learn 10 years worth of information I'm already supposed to know."

It took Ryou a moment to figure out what he meant. "Because you weren't in school before this?" Suddenly all the trouble Ryou had had from switching schools all the time and regularly blacking out seemed minor in comparison. At least _some_ of his time in school had been spent learning what he was supposed to.

Marik looked away from Ryou. "My family had somewhat different ideas about what I needed to learn," he said quietly. His normal tone was back a moment later. "And when I left I had way more interesting things to learn about than _math_."

Ryou tried to imagine what he'd do if he were suddenly let loose on the world after being trapped underground for all of childhood. It was too much for him to contemplate all at once, but he had to agree that things like algebra and trigonometry probably wouldn't even be among the first few thousand things he'd want to learn about. "Which subjects do you need to catch up on?"

Marik started counting them off on his fingers. "Well, first there's math, like I said. I need to learn pretty much everything between arithmetic and... uh... whatever it is we're doing right now. I do know some geometry, since it's important in setting up certain rituals. I don't know any science aside from what I've seen on TV..."

Ryou cringed a little. "Um. You might have unlearn some of that."

"Oh." Marik blinked. "Well, from what I saw today, it won't matter until I learn the math, anyway. I'm fine with technology, at least."

"And languages," Ryou added, trying to look on the bright side. "If I didn't know any better, I'd assume you lived here all your life." Ryou had tried to rid himself of his own accent before, hoping to fit in better by being less noticeable, but his few attempts hadn't been very successful.

Marik smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. At least spending all that time studying ancient texts gave me _some_ useful skills. Picking up modern languages isn't that hard, especially with TV around." He continued counting off the subjects on his fingers. "And then there's history. I can tell you anything you want to know about Ancient Egypt... and only Ancient Egypt. I don't even know that much about Egyptian history past the time of the Pharaoh, let alone the history of _other countries_. Well, other than what I've picked up from movies." He paused. "Am I going to have to unlearn that, too?"

"Maybe," Ryou agreed. "But at least it gave you a vague outline to work with."

"I guess." Marik sighed softly, though he was still smiling.

Ryou felt bad for him. He knew what it was like to be behind, but even he'd never gotten _that_ far behind. "I could help you get caught up. I-If you want." Ryou knew he didn't have any good reason to be nervous saying it, but having friends was still a new experience for him. Even though Marik had been nothing but kind to him so far, there was still a part of him that expected any friendly overture he made to be met with a cruel and hateful response.

"That would be lifesaving," Marik said, "but only if it won't take you away from anything you need to do."

"I'm a little ahead at the moment," Ryou replied. "I switched schools so often that I got used to learning on my own. I still have problems paying attention in class sometimes." Of course, that was more due to the spirit pestering him than anything else, but Marik didn't have to know that. It would be good to have the excuse of being generally inattentive if it happened again in the future.

He glanced at the spirit out of the corner of his eye, expecting some comment about him actively plotting to conceal things from his friends, but the spirit still didn't seem to be giving him a single thought at the moment.

Marik, however, was giving him the same odd look he had that morning. "Yeah, I saw you during class today. What got you so..." Marik seemed to struggle for the right word. "Um... _distracted_?"

Ryou felt a blush coming on. "N-nothing in particular," he stammered. "The teacher just wasn't very interesting, s-so I started daydreaming."

Marik snickered a little. "It's okay. It's not like I was really paying attention either." He had a small, amused smile on his face.

"R-right." Ryou would rather have been talking about almost anything else right about then. "L-look, there's the library!" he declared, a little too excitedly. He ran over to the library steps.

Marik jogged after him. "So, what do you think we should start with?" he asked.

"Probably math," Ryou replied, glad Marik had apparently decided to go along with his abrupt change of topic. "You'll need it before you can start on science and it shouldn't be as hard to get basically caught up on history, so..."

The two chatted happily as they walked into the library.


	11. Unnerving Discoveries

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 10)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M  
**Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou tossed and turned in his sleep. In the past several weeks since the incident with the ring, he'd had some form of nightmare every single night. Some were about the monster rising up and destroying the world, but more were about the horrifying images he'd seen in the vision. He'd fall asleep and find himself in the middle of the village with soldiers murdering people all around him, turning on him when they'd finished on the others.

In the worst ones, the soldiers weren't attacking a nameless village at all – instead they were rampaging through Domino City, killing everyone he knew and cramming their bodies into a huge cauldron.

The spirit seemed almost as upset by his dreams as he was, attempting to shake him awake every time he fell into a dream of the village or the soldiers or the cauldron. It didn't generally work, but over time his mind came up with its own defense against the soldiers, sending a dream version of the spirit to fight against them when they appeared. The dream spirit did all the things Ryou had seen the spirit do in real life and far worse, this time against the soldiers. Ryou had never thought he'd be in a situation were he actually _wanted_ to see the spirit violently ripping people's souls out of their bodies, but it seemed he'd managed to stumble upon the only possible one.

The first time the dream version of the spirit had saved him, he'd awoken to find the real form of the spirit sitting cross-legged on his bed, staring at him with a completely blank face. He'd braced himself for a comment about being weak and always needing someone to rescue him, but nothing had come. The spirit had seemed to have even less of an idea about how to react to the dream than Ryou did. Ryou had wondered briefly if the spirit had figured out how to enter his dreams, but the spirit had promptly dismissed the idea, proceeding to ignore him for the rest of the day.

His addition to the dreams didn't seem to pacify the spirit any; if anything it seemed to make him hate them even more, though Ryou had no idea why that would be the case. A few days after the new dreams had started, the spirit had cornered him in his bedroom right before he went to sleep, running his hands all over Ryou's body while giving him one short, irritated order:

_Dream about something else tonight, Landlord._

Though he could readily have pushed the spirit off of him, Ryou had allowed the spirit to continue touching him, first in surprise, then almost in agreement – at this point he would have welcomed any dream that didn't involve people suffering and dying.

Unfortunately, all it had done (aside from making him too excited to fall asleep right away) was add a somewhat embarrassing scene between him and his rescuer to the end of the dream. The spirit had tried distracting Ryou's subconscious mind a few more times, with some attempts making school incredibly awkward for him, but he had stopped as soon as it became clear to him that it wasn't going to work.

Right now, Ryou was in the middle of the village again, running away from a pair of soldiers with blood-covered swords. They cornered him in a dark alleyway with no exit. His panic lessened somewhat when the spirit appeared in front him, but came back full force when the spirit turned toward him instead of the soldiers, trying to grab his arms and stop his thrashing around. Ryou shook him off easily several times, but the spirit finally just threw himself bodily against him, wrapping his arms around Ryou so he couldn't be pushed off without a great deal of effort.

Which is not to say that Ryou didn't try. Ryou shoved as hard as he could, hitting the spirit on the back and sides in an attempt to push him away before the advancing soldiers reached them. He stopped when the soldiers came within striking distance, closing his eyes tight and clinging to the body in front of him as hard as he could.

Moments passed without anything happening. Ryou opened his eyes and saw that the two soldiers had disappeared. He relaxed a little, resting his head on the spirit's shoulder. He released the spirit from his death-grip, loosening his arms into a soft embrace. The village faded around them until they were left floating in a soft, fuzzy space. His heartbeat slowly returned to normal.

They stayed in that comfortable position for an indeterminate amount of time, one moment blurring gently into the next, until Ryou heard the faint buzzing of his alarm clock. Ryou groaned, trying to bury his head in the spirit's shoulder so he couldn't hear it. He was finally having a nice dream. He didn't want to wake up just yet.

But it was too late for him to fall back into unconsciousness. Ryou blinked his eyes open sleepily, initially confused by the position he found himself in. At first he thought that he must have rolled over on top of one of his pillows.

Then he realized that pillows didn't have arms to hug him with.

Ryou leapt off the spirit, tripping over the covers and barely managing not to fall off the bed entirely. As he tried to untangle himself from the blankets, he considered exactly how long they had to have been lying there like that. _Why did he even put up with it for **any** amount of time?_ Ryou wondered. It was like the spirit had been... _cuddling_ him.

The spirit sat up and crossed his arms, scowling at him. _I was not **cuddling** you. I was stopping you from whining and flailing around like an idiot. _

_I can't have been that bad, _Ryou thought indignantly.

_You were, _the spirit insisted, turning his back on Ryou entirely. _And if you bring this up again, I'll make your day extremely unpleasant._

The threat had some actual weight now, Ryou thought as he made his bed. Other than the brief, ineffective campaign to rid him of his nightmares, the spirit had left him pretty much alone since the incident several weeks ago, seeming lost in his own thoughts most of the time. Ryou had been able to go to school, hang out with his friends, and help Marik get caught up all without the spirit bothering him. He still left the TV on when he was at home, just in case the spirit got bored, but the spirit hadn't paid it any attention, seeming content to spend most of his time brooding. Sometimes he wondered what the spirit could possibly spend so much time thinking about, but he invariably decided that it was probably better that he didn't know.

At least the spirit wasn't bothering him about the ring anymore, though he wasn't certain how long that would last.

_I've told you, Landlord, I'm not interested in the Millennium Ring any longer. The Pharaoh can wear it himself for all I care._

Ryou rolled his eyes as he walked to the bathroom. He didn't believe the spirit's obsession with the ring could just suddenly end like that, especially since the spirit had refused to explain exactly _why_ he supposedly no longer wanted it back, or what he intended to do without it.

_I don't have to explain anything. My reason for not wanting to go back in the ring should be obvious, even to you._

Ryou knew what he meant – he wouldn't want to have that thing living alongside him either – but for all he knew the spirit was only using the opportunity to lull him into a false sense of security.

_You're far too suspicious of me and not nearly suspicious enough of other people, _the spirit complained.

_Other people don't give me so many reasons to be suspicious,_ Ryou replied as he soaped up his body in the shower. He'd mostly gotten over his embarrassment of holding completely naked conversations with the spirit, or at least, he generally could handle them when the spirit wasn't actually touching him or leering at him.

_The Pharaoh is clearly up to something._

Yugi _had_ been keeping to himself somewhat lately, not hanging out with the others as much as he used to. When asked, all he would say was that the Pharaoh was investigating the items, though sometimes he'd just say was that he was tired and needed to rest. Ryou had been a little worried that the Pharaoh might be wearing his body out doing whatever he was doing during his investigation, but Yugi insisted he was fine. _We know what he's up to. He's trying to figure out more about the purple thing._ That was the name Ryou and Marik had settled on when they talked about it, though the Pharaoh refused to call it that.

_If that's all it is, then why is he being so secretive about it?_

_Because he's the Pharaoh. He's almost as paranoid as you are, sometimes. That doesn't mean he's up to something._ Ryou washed himself off.

_What about the tomb keeper? He's clearly hiding something as well._

Ryou had been spending almost every afternoon with Marik, sometimes helping him with school work, other times attempting to research the vision together at the museum, and sometimes just hanging out with the others. But Marik disappeared off on his own somewhere every Monday and Wednesday just after school. He'd never said where he went during that time and Ryou hadn't asked. _I doubt it's anything sinister._

_He could be plotting something._

Ryou snickered as he dried himself off. _And he only does it for an hour or so every Monday and Wednesday?_

_It's still suspicious,_ the spirit replied stubbornly.

Ryou couldn't claim he hadn't been curious about what Marik was doing, especially since he never gave even the slightest hint about what it was. Ryou had come up with a few possible theories – a job, an afterschool club, and a private tutor among them – but none of them really fit with the time frame or the secrecy. He pushed those aside. _If he wants to tell me, he'll tell me._ _It's really none of my business._

Ryou put on his uniform and got ready for school.

* * *

The school day itself was fairly uneventful. Ryou had found over the past several weeks that even without the spirit bothering him, paying attention to his teachers was still difficult. What he'd told Marik about having gotten used to learning on his own had turned out to be truer than even he had realized. He'd taken to reading ahead in his textbooks and starting his homework early instead of trying to learn from the lectures themselves. The few times he'd truly attempted to keep track of what was going on were only to divert his attention from something the spirit was doing.

Today Marik had told him that Ishizu had gotten a new book in at the museum that might finally allow them to identify who the soldiers had been. "She borrowed it from some university. We'll have to keep it in the museum."

"So I'll meet you there later?" Ryou asked, knowing that Marik would probably be going wherever he always went on Wednesday afternoons.

_You should follow him and see where he goes._

_I'm not going to stalk Marik, _Ryou thought back._ He's given me my privacy. I'll give him his._ Ryou had caught Marik looking at him strangely on a few occasions, usually when the spirit had managed to distract him again, but Marik had never actually said anything to him. Based on Marik's behavior the rest of the time, Ryou thought he could at least be certain that he hadn't figured out the truth. Whatever Marik did think about Ryou's strange behavior, he seemed content to keep it to himself at the moment. Ryou thought it only fair to give him the same courtesy about his habits.

"Yeah." Marik grabbed his school bag. "Ishizu will let you in if you want to go early, but otherwise I should be there by four o'clock. See you later." He walked quickly out the door.

Ryou turned to the others, who were trying to convince Yugi to go somewhere with them.

"Come on, you've been doing nothing but come to school and go home," Tristan complained. "You should go out once in a while."

Yugi yawned. "I would, I'm just too tired today."

"You've been saying that a lot lately. You haven't been partying all night without us, have you?" Joey asked, clearly concerned under the joking tone.

Yugi laughed. "I wish." He yawned again as he stood up. "Maybe tomorrow? I really have to get home..." He waved goodbye as he left.

Téa turned to Ryou. "Do you want to come with us?"

He did have a bit of time before meeting Marik. "Where are you going?"

Joey put an arm over Téa's shoulder. "Téa here is going to show us how to pick up girls."

Téa neatly shoved him away. "What he means is, I'm going to show them how to talk to girls without being creepy." She eyed them skeptically. "If that's even possible." She looked back at Ryou. "You could probably do it pretty easily. These guys do need a good example."

Ryou held his hands up in front of him and started backing away. "Th-that's okay. I have to go somewhere else today." He all but fled the room, deciding that going to the museum early might not be such a bad idea after all.

* * *

It was odd, Ryou thought, as Ishizu led him back into what was technically his father's office, that he was spending more time here now that his father was away than he ever had the few times his father had actually been in town.

"Here it is," she said, handing him a book. "It should contain anything you want to know about military clothing from that time period."

"Thank you," Ryou said brightly, sitting down at a table off to the side. "I'll take good care of it."

She smiled at him. "I know you will. I hope you find what you need."

Ryou immediately turned to the section detailing information about the clothing worn by the soldiers in the Pharaoh's kingdom. It wasn't that he necessarily believed what the spirit had told him, but the section was the largest in the book, and if nothing else he thought it would be best to reach a verdict on that issue as soon as possible.

He browsed through the depictions of various known incarnations of military clothing from the approximate time period he was interested in. There were a lot of different versions – it seemed there were more distinctions between types of soldiers than he'd realized.

The spirit was sitting on the table next to him. _The one you're looking for was worn by the Royal Guard._

Ryou frowned, but he went ahead and flipped to the section about the Royal Guard. A few pages in, he found what he was looking for: a diagram precisely matching the clothing worn by the soldiers in the vision (and his nightmares). He read through the short passage about the Royal Guard. Apparently they were a fairly small group compared to the normal army and they only took orders from the Pharaoh and his closest advisors and family members.

_Now do you believe me?_ The spirit's tone wasn't nearly as smug as Ryou would have expected it to be. If anything, the spirit sounded angry, as though he didn't think he would be believed even now, in the face of obvious evidence.

Ryou didn't _want_ to believe it, but he had to admit the evidence was damaging. He made several copies of the relevant pages, then looked at the clock. He hadn't been there long at all – it seemed he still had a good hour left until Marik would get there. He placed the copies in a neat stack off to the side, bookmarked the page, and then started flipping through the book from the beginning, just to eliminate any possibility of a basically similar uniform being worn by a different group of soldiers.

By the time Marik got there, he'd finished looking through the entire book and had turned back to the page with the matching uniform.

"Hey," Marik greeted. "Did you find anything?"

"I think so," Ryou said. He hadn't thought of a good way to put it, so he simply handed Marik the book.

Marik looked at the picture and nodded. "This is definitely it," he said. "Who wore--" Marik cut off abruptly when he read the caption. He sat down next to Ryou at the table. "Why would the Royal Guard be murdering innocent villagers?" It seemed Marik had no problems getting straight to the point.

"I don't know," Ryou replied. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know, either." Marik set the book down on the table and grabbed one of the copies Ryou had made, folding the page so only the picture was visible. "We should show this to the Pharaoh tomorrow."

"I suppose," Ryou said. _But what could he say? He doesn't even remember anything about his past._ Ryou closed the book and set it off to the side. "What should we do right now?"

"We could go back to searching for any information about a destroyed village," Marik replied, picking a few other books off of a stack on the floor.

"Okay..." Ryou agreed, though he doubted they would find anything at this point. They'd been through a sea of books searching for the village they'd seen, looking into historical reports and legends as well as archaeological finds in the area.

Ryou had once tried asking the spirit for a hint about where the village was or what it was called, but the spirit had flat out refused to tell him anything about it, even though Ryou was certain he knew more than he was saying. In fact, as time went on, Ryou was becoming more and more convinced that the spirit was somehow connected to the village. His reaction to Ryou's nightmares, his hatred of the Pharaoh, and the little Ryou had managed to find out about the vision were all starting to come together in an extremely unsettling picture.

But Ryou knew he couldn't make any reasonable judgment about the situation with only the information he had. He knew the spirit was keeping a great deal of information from him, and he also knew that he couldn't trust what the spirit told him to paint the full picture even if it did happen to be true.

It would be so much easier if the spirit would simply _tell_ him what he knew, Ryou thought as he skimmed through an article on a recent dig. But until that happened he would just have to keep searching on his own.

* * *

After he finished with Marik, Ryou went home and ate a late dinner. Afterward, he'd changed into his pajamas early and sat down in the living room to watch his small TV. Getting his homework done early had its advantages, but it left him with relatively little to do in the evenings.

He noticed the spirit glaring at him soon after he sat down on the couch. The glare only increased in intensity as time went on, until Ryou almost thought the spirit might start shooting lasers out of his eyes. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore. "What? What is it? Why are you staring at me?"

"You," the spirit accused, "You and your... _nightmares_."

Ryou's shoulders sagged a little. "Hey, I'm not exactly looking forward to them either."

The spirit glared at him even harder before finally looking away. "I may have found a way around them," he said, now pointedly not looking at Ryou at all.

"Really?" Ryou was hopeful, but not overly so, given the spirit's last attempt at getting rid of his bad dreams.

A normal person might have offered an explanation just then, but the spirit remained silent, now fuming at a distant corner of the room.

"Well, what is it?" Ryou asked, feeling somewhat exasperated. Getting information out of the spirit was like pulling teeth. "What made you think of it?"

"It occurred to me earlier today," the spirit said, not really answering either question properly. "You'll find out what it is soon enough."

Ryou thought that sounded ominous. "Um. Right." He went back to watching TV, but his mind was too busy puzzling over what exactly the spirit intended to do to pay any real attention to what was on. It was soon time for him to go to sleep. He turned the TV down and went to finish getting ready for bed.

The spirit remained out of sight until he turned off the lights, only appearing next to him once he was in bed. Ryou looked up at him, curious about what he was going to do. He could still see the spirit perfectly clearly in the dark, as though the spirit was producing his own small light source.

_Close your eyes,_ the spirit ordered.

_Why?_ Ryou asked, feeling a little suspicious.

_Just do it!_ The spirit was clearly pissed off, but he also looked more uncomfortable than Ryou had ever seen him.

This actually reassured Ryou somewhat. The spirit had never seemed especially uncomfortable doing horrible things to him, so that meant this was probably something else entirely. _Fine, _he thought, closing his eyes as instructed and waiting expectantly.

Ryou could sense the spirit moving near him. Soon the spirit settled down on top of him, arms wrapped part of the way around his sides in an awkward hug. Ryou felt laughter bubbling up inside him as he realized what the plan was and what had inspired it, but he held it back.

_You laugh, you **die**, _the spirit growled. _It's your fault this is even necessary._

_So you're just going to... stay here like this? All night?_ Ryou couldn't imagine the spirit putting up with that. He'd already known that the spirit hated his dreams, but... Ryou opened his eyes without thinking about it, wanting to see the look on the spirit's face.

The spirit was glaring at him again. _Eyes closed, Landlord._

Ryou did as the spirit asked. He could almost _feel_ the spirit's discomfort with the situation, which gratified him a little. The spirit could stand to be the uneasy one for a change. Ryou himself was far less frazzled by this than by the other ways the spirit had used his ability to touch him in the past, even if it was kind of strange.

He tentatively wrapped his arms around the spirit, returning the embrace. The spirit seemed to be treating the bed, if not the blankets, as solid at the moment, so Ryou lifted his back for a moment to allow the spirit to slide his arms around him fully. It was odd lying there like this, but it _had_ calmed him down during his nightmare that morning. Maybe going to sleep like this really would prevent any nightmares from even starting in the first place.

_We were in a slightly different position then, though, _Ryou thought._ I wonder if that will change anything?_ The thought hung in the air.

After a few moments of silence, the spirit finally responded. _Roll over on top of me, _he commanded, clearly annoyed.

Ryou had no reason not to. He rolled the spirit over so their positions were reversed. Now Ryou was on top of the spirit, using the spirit's chest as a pillow for his head. He shifted around a bit more until he found the best position, then tried to relax enough to fall asleep. It took a while, since he wasn't used to having another person so close to him when he slept. His mind wandered in different directions. He contemplated the fact that the spirit's chest didn't move in and out to take in air the way a normal person's would, and the fact that to any outside observer it would probably look like he was floating several inches above his bed for no apparent reason.

But eventually those thoughts faded away, allowing him to drift off into the first truly peaceful night's sleep he'd had in a long time.


	12. Honorable Defenders Of The Peace

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 11)  
**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou had an entire night full of pleasant, fuzzy dreams. Most of them were about the spirit hugging him, but he also had a few about having fun with his friends both in and out of school. He didn't remember any of them afterwards, but he woke up feeling really happy. He sighed, squeezing the spirit more tightly.

The spirit, in turn, disappeared right from under him, letting him fall several inches down onto his bed with a _plop_.

Ryou groaned softly. He rolled over and rubbed his arm, which he'd fallen on top of at an odd angle. "You could have told me to move, you know."

The spirit now sat atop Ryou's dresser. He was scowling, but he looked oddly frazzled by the night's experience. "You were already done sleeping."

Ryou only shook his head, getting ready for school without bothering to reply.

* * *

The school day crawled by slowly. Ryou had met Marik at the entrance and they'd agreed that it shouldn't be discussed at school, so they'd asked Yugi if he'd come to the museum with them that afternoon. Ryou had spent the rest of the day wondering how the Pharaoh would react to what they'd discovered.

After classes were over they'd brought Yugi to the office at the museum. "So what did you guys find out?" he asked curiously.

Ryou stood off to the side as Marik handed Yugi a copy of the diagram from the book. He was happy to let someone else do the actual confronting.

Marik had cut the surrounding text off of the page, so that only the picture of the uniform remained. "We found the uniform worn by the soldiers in the vision."

Yugi looked at it, then glanced off to the side as though listening to someone. "The Pharaoh says that's definitely the uniform he saw. Who wore it?"

Marik took out another copy of the page, this one complete with text. "Could you send the Pharaoh out for a sec?"

"I guess so," Yugi replied. The puzzle glowed, switching Yugi's presence with the Pharaoh's.

"Who were the soldiers?" the Pharaoh asked without preamble.

Marik handed him the full copy of the page.

The Pharaoh read the words on the page. He was silent for a long moment before giving the page back to Marik. "Perhaps they were enemy soldiers disguised as the Royal Guard. It may have been some sort of ruse to fool the villagers into trusting them, or to discredit the highest leadership of the kingdom."

"If they were trying to discredit anyone, they failed miserably," Marik replied doubtfully. "We couldn't find anything matching what happened in that village _anywhere,_ done by the Royal Guard or anyone else. Wouldn't they have left a few survivors to spread the word?"

_Who would listen to a pitiful, insignificant villager over the **honorable** members of the Royal Guard? _The spirit's tone had only a hint of the anger boiling beneath the surface; his face was completely blank.

Ryou found himself uneasily siding with the spirit – the Pharaoh didn't even seem to be seriously considering the possibility, and he'd seen the men in the vision for himself. How would people who hadn't been there or seen anything react to the story? "It looked like a surprise attack. They didn't give the villagers enough time to trust them," he said quietly. "I... I think they were real members of the Royal Guard."

Another silence.

"We have no way of knowing that what we saw happened in reality," the Pharaoh finally said. "The being may have simply given us a false, yet realistic vision to create confusion. Do we have any evidence that the events we saw in the vision actually took place?"

"Not yet," Ryou replied.

"There may not be any evidence, even if it did happen," Marik said. "If it was covered up way back then, there might not be anything left to tell us what happened."

"If there is no evidence, we have no reliable way of determining what the vision means," the Pharaoh pointed out.

"That's true, but we shouldn't give up now," Marik replied.

The Pharaoh nodded. "You continue your search for the truth, and I will continue mine. Do you intend to do more research today?"

"I'm definitely going to," Ryou replied. He knew the mystery wasn't going to stop bothering him until he solved it.

"Me too," Marik added. "It feels like we're finally getting somewhere."

"Let me know if you find anything. I must be going." And with that, the Pharaoh left through the door without waiting for another word.

Ryou frowned. "He didn't seem to take what we told him very seriously."

"I don't know about that," Marik replied. "He left without even remembering to let Yugi say goodbye. I think it might have affected him more than he's letting on."

"I hope so." Ryou still wasn't so sure.

"You seem pretty convinced that what we saw was real."

"Yeah," Ryou realized. "I think I am. I know we really don't have any evidence, but... I believe it really happened." Of course, he had more convincing evidence than Marik did at the moment, in the form of the spirit's reactions. "What do you think?"

"I don't know." Marik absently traced a figure eight on the table with his finger. "My instincts are telling me that it's true, but... I think I've learned my lesson about jumping to conclusions without knowing the full story."

"We'll just have to find out the whole story, then," Ryou said, feeling determined. "Do we have any books about the Royal Guard?"

"Maybe..." Marik turned to the nearest bookshelf and started looking through it. "We have plenty of books about the army, but none about the Royal Guard itself. It's somewhere to start, anyway." Marik handed him one of the books about the army and took one for himself.

Ryou sat down at the table and turned to the section about the Royal Guard. He'd glanced through this particular book before when they'd been trying to figure out who the soldiers were, but he'd been focused on information about what soldiers wore and nothing else. The vague descriptions without pictures hadn't been much of a help. He hoped it would be more helpful now that he was looking for something else.

The spirit appeared on the table in front of him. _You're never going to find anything, you know. Who would let the destruction of a tiny, worthless village blemish the record of the adored ruler of the kingdom?_

Ryou skimmed over the introduction. _There still has to be a clue somewhere. A group of soldiers can't just obliterate an entire village without leaving behind some trace of what happened._

_They can if it's a village no one cares about,_ the spirit said bitterly.

Ryou paused in his reading. _There still has to be __**something**__. Those people can't just be... forgotten,_ he replied, his thoughts and feelings blurring together for a moment.

The spirit stared at Ryou for a short moment before disappearing from the room.

Ryou returned to the book. He didn't entirely know what he was looking for – he knew the spirit was right about the event itself not being recorded. He continued diligently through the chapter until something finally stuck out at him:

_...and these rigorous standards for entry into the Royal Guard were maintained through its entire existence. The only known exception to this occurred during a short period where nearly a hundred soldiers were recruited into the Guard at once, the regulations apparently having been relaxed to meet the required number. _

_The reason for the sudden recruitment of so many soldiers for the Royal Guard at that particular time has been debated. Some have suggested that it was a move to increase the protection of the ruling family from assassination, as fears of both invasion and interference from outside powers were running especially high at this time. Skeptics of this idea have pointed out that there was no action taken to expand the living quarters of the Royal Guard to accommodate a larger number of soldiers, indicating that the total number of soldiers did not increase beyond normal capacity. There is also no indication that any extra money was expended to pay for more than the usual number of Royal Guard members, even though the soldiers employed in the Guard were paid far more than their counterparts in the army. _

_Conversely, there is no indication that the Royal Guard had been under the standard number of soldiers before that point, either. Some believe that the new soldiers were brought as replacements, but there is no known record of a corresponding number of soldiers leaving, dying, or being released from their duties, despite records of these occurrences existing in other, much smaller instances._

Ryou read the passage over again. It wasn't necessarily evidence of anything, but...

He turned to Marik. "I might have found something. I'm not sure." He handed the book over to Marik and pointed to the passage. "From here."

Marik skimmed the passage. "That _is_ strange. First we have members of the Royal Guard murdering villagers, and now we know a large number of them just disappeared at some point. You're right. It could be related."

Ryou took the book back. "How, though? The villagers were the ones being murdered, not the soldiers."

"Maybe the soldiers were killed off afterward, so they couldn't tell anyone what they'd been ordered to do," Marik speculated. "Does it say when it happened?"

Ryou skimmed down a little more. "Nothing exact, but it was sometime during the Pharaoh's father's reign." The history of the Pharaoh's brief reign might have been a little sketchy, but that had only made it easier to figure out where he fell in the timeline. There weren't many Pharaohs whose very _names_ were missing from any known records, and there was only one spot in the record with a totally unexplained, near-catastrophic event in the heart of the kingdom.

"Okay. If this is the same event, we at least know _when_ it happened," Marik said. "Which is good, because we'd been kind of assuming it happened during the Pharaoh's reign, and it looks like that isn't true."

"Do you think we should tell the Pharaoh?" Ryou asked.

"I'm not sure he'd consider this real evidence. Not on its own," Marik replied. "We'll just have to find more." He went to the bookshelf and picked up another book. "I'm going to read about the Pharaoh's father."

"Good idea. I'll keep going with this book." Ryou went to make a copy of the page from the book, then sat back down to look for more clues.

The spirit reappeared in front of him, looking at him with the barest hint of approval. _You've figured out more than I expected, Landlord._

Ryou felt warm at the not-quite-a-compliment. _I knew there had to be something._

_Don't get too satisfied with yourself. The most important information won't be found in any of these books._

_Why don't you tell me, then?_ Ryou asked. _Is it that you don't want to tell me, or that you don't want me to know at all?_

The spirit said nothing. He looked like he didn't entirely know the answer to that question himself.

_Don't you want **someone** to know who those people were, what happened to them?_ Ryou still hadn't figured out what the spirit had to do with the village, but by now it was clear to him that the people had to be important to the spirit somehow. He knew so much about what had happened there, even though as far as Ryou could tell he couldn't have actually been there at the event himself.

It _had_ occurred to Ryou that the spirit might have been there and been killed there, and that was why he hated the Pharaoh so much, but it didn't really fit. For one thing, Ryou hadn't seen the spirit in the vision, and as far as he knew none of the others had either. Ryou knew the spirit couldn't have been as powerful in his real life as he was in his nightmares, but he still had to have been very strong. Ryou was certain he could have taken down most, if not all of the soldiers before getting killed himself.

The spirit scowled at him. _There is only one person I need to know what happened there, and he will never believe it, let alone **care** about the people it happened to._

_You mean the Pharaoh?_ Ryou asked. _But if it happened during his father's reign, he had nothing to with it. Is it just that he won't acknowledge what happened?_ Ryou could understand that much. The Pharaoh's seeming unconcern was getting to him, too, and he didn't have anything to do with the people involved.

_Even if it happened during his father's reign, he still benefited from it, and he allowed himself to continue benefiting from it even after he learned the truth._

Ryou had too many questions to ask at once. _Benefit? Wait, he knew what happened at some point?_

_Yes. But as I expected, he didn't even __**think**__ of giving up the power that it had granted him. He didn't do it then, and he won't do it now._

_Power?_ Ryou didn't know how the destruction of an unknown village years before the Pharaoh ever came to the throne would give him any more power. He was already Pharaoh, after all. And he couldn't really be said to have that power now, whatever everyone called him.

Unless the spirit meant the other sort of power: shadow magic.

The Millennium Items.

Ryou strained to see the connection in his mind. What would the Millennium Items have to do with soldiers murdering villagers and stuffing their bodies into... a cauldron...

Melting them down...

Ryou's mind went blank in self-preservation for a moment, but then a memory of something the spirit had told him came crashing through the silence: _"...there's a 'dark presence' in every Millennium Item. They're **dark artifacts** that were created in a **dark ritual**."_

Ryou's head shot up, looking for the spirit for confirmation, but the spirit had disappeared again. He rubbed at his chest where the Millennium Ring used to be, as though he could rub away any contact he'd had with the thing. It had touched his _skin, _its spikes had dug into his_ body, _and he'd worn it for _years_ without realizing anything.

He stopped touching the area where the ring had been and forced himself to calm down. He would need more information, some actual proof, before he could do anything. He didn't even know what he should do if it were true. He turned to Marik. "Um."

Marik looked up from his book. "Did you find something again already?" He sounded impressed.

"Er. No. Not exactly." Ryou tried to figure out what he wanted to say. He couldn't just blurt out his idea with no good explanation of where it came from. "It's about the Millennium Items, actually. Do you have any idea how they were made?" Ryou already knew the answer, but it was a start.

Marik shook his head. "No, I've never seen any information about how they were made or who made them. All I know is that they were in use by the time the Pharaoh took the throne, but couldn't have been made very long before then." Marik looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"I've been thinking about the vision," Ryou said slowly. "I mean, the purple thing was trapped in the ring, and we had the vision when we used that spell on the ring, so... shouldn't that mean the items are connected to the village somehow?"

"How would the items...?" Marik trailed off. Ryou could tell he'd come to the same conclusion when his eyes widened and he started to look slightly ill. "You mean the cauldron."

Ryou nodded.

"That... that makes a disturbing amount of sense," Marik said. "I don't know how we can verify it, though."

"It's not really the sort of thing that would be written in a history book, even if it hadn't been covered up," Ryou agreed.

"I can look through some of my family's stuff. There might be something in there that will help us find the answer." Marik stood up and put the books away. "I'll tell you if I find anything tomorrow."

Ryou grabbed his things and turned to leave. "I'll see you at school."

* * *

The spirit was nowhere to be found during the walk home. Ryou was wondering whether or not he should bother with dinner when he saw the police cars parked outside of his apartment, stopping him in his tracks.

He sighed.

_This can't be anything good, can it?_


	13. A New Threat

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 12)  
**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou watched the police from a distance, wishing he knew why they were there. For a moment he thought they must have finally tracked him down to arrest him for some crime the spirit had committed while still in control of his body, but he discounted the idea almost immediately. If the police had come to arrest him, they probably wouldn't leave police cruisers out front to give him advance warning that they were there.

_And there is no way I ever left a trail that would lead them back here,_ the spirit said, sounding somewhat offended.

Ryou turned around to find the spirit standing behind him. He desperately wanted to ask all the questions he'd been holding in since he'd put the pieces together at the museum, but knew that he had to deal with whatever was happening at his apartment building first. _Do you know what's going on?_

_Yes. I went ahead and looked around. _

It took Ryou a moment to realize the spirit wasn't going to say anything else. He felt a little exasperated. This really wasn't the time for withholding information. _Are you going to tell me?_

_If I tell you now, you won't be able to show the right amount of surprise when someone else does it later._

And that might make him look suspicious. Ryou had to admit he had a point. As often as he had to fake things like that, he couldn't say he was actually very good at it. A police officer might pick up on his deception and get the wrong idea. He took a deep breath and walked up to the building.

A police officer stopped him almost immediately. "Excuse me, son, but do you have a reason to be here?"

"Um. I live on the second floor. What happened?"

"The second floor, you say?" The officer waved to a man not wearing a uniform.

The man walked over and held out his badge. "I'm Detective Lawson, and you are...?"

"Ryou Bakura. I live on the second floor," he repeated, starting to feel a little nervous. "What's going on?"

The detective put his badge away. "There was a break in. Someone broke a window on the side of the building..." The detective gestured to indicate the side he was talking about. "And then climbed into the first floor apartment."

"The woman who lives there – is she okay?" Ryou didn't know the elderly lady who lived on the first floor very well, but she seemed nice enough. He hoped nothing bad had happened to her.

"She's fine. It happened mid-afternoon, and she was out at the time."

"That's good." Ryou shifted uncomfortably. "Do you need me for a statement, or..."

"I'm afraid there's a bit more to it than that," the detective replied. "You see, whoever did this didn't take anything from the first floor apartment."

"They didn't?"

"No. It seems they only even broke into the first floor apartment in order to gain access to the inside stairs. Mrs. Lenz found her door unlocked when she returned home."

Ryou felt dread rising inside him. "What did they do once they got to the stairs?"

"They made an exceptionally zealous attempt to get into the second floor apartment. _Your_ apartment, Mr. Bakura."

"M-my apartment? Did they get inside?"

The detective looked ambivalent. "Not through the front door, though not for lack of trying. We can't say for certain whether they found another way in after giving up on the door." The detective put a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Look, kid, whoever did this is obviously very dangerous. We've been through the first and third apartments to verify that they're clear. We'd like to check your apartment, but we need the keys. We can't break through the door anymore than they could."

Ryou handed over his keys immediately, perfectly willing to let the police deal with whatever maniac might be lurking in his apartment at the moment. It seemed odd that the police hadn't been able to break through the door, but he figured it was probably much more difficult in real life than in the movies.

"Alright. Wait over here with Officer Byrd." The detective walked into the building.

Ryou looked around for the spirit, but he'd gone off somewhere again. After a few minutes of anxious waiting, he saw the detective walk back out of the building, now followed by several officers in body armor. One was carrying a police battering ram. The detective directed the officers over to one of the police cars.

_Isn't this kind of overkill for a simple break-in?_ Ryou wondered.

The detective jogged back over to Ryou and gave him back his keys. "Your apartment is clear."

"Well, that's..." Ryou trailed off, not actually sure whether it was good or bad. He was glad whoever it was hadn't managed to get inside his apartment, but not so glad that this meant the police couldn't just arrest the person right now. "It's something?"

The detective pulled out a notepad and pen and started writing something down. "Now that we've made sure the area is safe, I'm going to need to talk to your parents."

"It's just my father," Ryou said, not liking where this was going. "And he's away for his job at the moment."

The detective looked up in surprise. "You mean you're here entirely on your own?" He looked Ryou over. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

The detective shook his head, the expression on his face showing that he didn't like it, but knew he couldn't do anything about it because Ryou was legally of age. "I suppose I'll have to talk to you, then."

He headed for the door, gesturing for Ryou to follow. "Let's go inside." He paused for a moment at the door. "Just so you're warned, there's a fair bit of damage to the hallway just outside your door." The detective disappeared inside.

_How much damage could there be? _Ryou wondered, following the detective inside. _Surely it can't be that much, if they weren't able to get into the apartment._ He walked behind the detective up the stairs to the second floor, stopping at the top in shock.

It took a moment for him to process the scene before him. The first thing he noticed was the cloud of white dust, which he soon realized were particles of plaster sent into the air when someone had attempted to _rip through the walls_. The entire outer surface of the wall of his apartment had been shredded off, revealing the hard concrete surface beneath.

The door had taken a great deal of abuse as well. There were dents all over the front and small chunks of wood littering the floor in front of it. There was a short steel pole sticking out of the middle, which seemed to be a railing torn off the opposite wall. Ryou could only gape at the rod impaled in the door. "H-how is that even possible?" he blurted out.

"I take it you're referring to this?" the detective asked rhetorically, gesturing at the door. "We have no idea. Your door has some kind of reinforced steel core – I hope you have an explanation for that, by the way, but we'll get to that in a minute – but anyway, whoever did this was able to shove the railing right through it, although he clearly couldn't get it out afterward."

Ryou didn't find that much comfort. "He... he put it right through the door?" Ryou repeated, feeling rattled. He looked at the impact more closely and noticed that the door was misshapen where the railing had gone through; it almost looked like the steel in the door had actually _melted_ a little when the railing had hit.

"Right through," The detective affirmed. "If we could discuss this sitting down..."

Ryou realized that he was probably waiting to be invited in now that there wasn't any imminent threat. "R-right. You can go in."

The detective opened the door into the apartment wide enough to get around the rail and walked inside. Ryou shut the door, mind boggling a little at the several inches of railing sticking out the other side, and led him into the living room.

"Would you like something to drink?" Ryou asked automatically.

The detective sat down in the chair. "I'm fine," he said.

Ryou sat down on the couch and waited expectantly.

The detective scribbled something on his notepad before he began. "Whoever did this very clearly targeted this apartment specifically. Are you keeping anything valuable in here that someone else might want?"

Ryou shook his head slowly. "No." The only really valuable thing he'd ever had was the ring, and he hadn't been in possession of that for weeks.

"Is there anyone who might want to hurt you?"

Ryou wondered if the spirit should still be on that list, but he couldn't mention that anyway. "I d-don't think so."

"Nobody you've had a fight with? Someone from school, perhaps?"

Ryou shook his head again. There really wasn't anyone who wanted to seriously hurt him anymore, at least, not that he knew of. "C-could a highschool student really do all that?"

The detective let out a short, humorless laugh. "We're still not sure _what_ could do that. Normally we'd put a mess like that down to drugs, but someone that drugged up wouldn't have left such a clean path through the other apartment. We think whoever it was remained relatively calm up until the door wouldn't break down, then flew into a rage."

"I guess I'm lucky he didn't make it in here," Ryou said.

"Perhaps we all are. Speaking of which, do you happen to know how this apartment came to have such... fortifications?" The detective was looking at him sharply now.

Ryou blinked. "Fortifications?" he asked, feeling confused.

The detective eyed his face a little longer, but then seemed to decide that Ryou really didn't know anything about what he was asking. "Yeah, fortifications. None of the other apartments have doors with a steel core, reinforced hinges or a steel door frame, yet this apartment does. Almost like someone was expecting a crazed attack like this. Or possibly a police raid."

"I didn't even know it wasn't a normal door," Ryou said. That much was true. "Maybe the person who lived here before me put it in," he added, somewhat less truthfully. He had a very different guess about who would go to the trouble of fortifying the front door.

The detective nodded. "We'll be checking into that." He pulled out a card and handed it to Ryou. "If you think of anything you haven't told me or if you notice anything strange, call me. We'll have an officer posted to watch the building in case the guy comes back, but that will only be for the next couple of days."

"O-okay."

"Look, do you have someone you can call right now? A friend you can stay with tonight?"

Ryou thought of his friends, but instinctively discounted the idea. "I... I don't want to be a bother."

The detective rubbed his face. "Kid, a maniac just tried to force his way into your apartment. You have a right to ask for help."

Ryou shook his head. Even beyond not wanting to bother anyone, he couldn't risk accidentally revealing the spirit's presence to one of his friends while sleeping. "You said there will be an officer outside. That's really enough for me." He smiled, trying to sound less nervous than he really was.

From the detective's expression, he'd failed completely. "If you're absolutely sure that's what you want, I can't stop you." The detective got up from the chair. "I'll contact you if there are any major developments."

Ryou followed him to the door. "Thank you."

"Be sure to keep this door locked, alright?" the detective said from the top of the stairs.

"I will," Ryou assured him. He closed the door and locked it.

He wandered back into his living room. The emptiness of his apartment now seemed ominous and threatening; there would be no one to protect him if someone got inside intending to hurt him. _S-spirit?_ Ryou called out mentally, not wanting a stray police officer to hear him apparently talking to himself. It would be just his luck to have the police decide that he was crazy and had vandalized his own apartment.

Ryou sighed in relief when the spirit appeared on the couch. The spirit couldn't physically protect him anymore, but it still felt better not to be completely alone. He was a little surprised the spirit hadn't made any comments while he'd been speaking with the detective.

"You would have reacted to something I said and made yourself look suspicious," the spirit informed him. "I don't trust your ability to escape from the police."

_I wouldn't even **try** to escape from the police_.

"Exactly," the spirit replied disdainfully.

Arguing about this wasn't going to get them anywhere. _Did you really fortify the front door against an attack? _Ryou still couldn't quite believe it.

"Yes. And before you ask, Landlord, no, I have no idea who's responsible for what happened today. It was a general precaution against _inept _would-be thieves," the spirit answered. "One that clearly turned out to be a good idea."

_Where did you even find a door with a steel core? _There couldn't exactly be many places that made them. Ryou hoped the police wouldn't find that he had in fact bought a steel-core door at some point. Or... several such doors, even. _Did you do this for every place we lived?_

"No, only this one. And I never _buy_ anything," the spirit said contemptuously.

_You **stole** the door you used to secure our apartment?_ Ryou asked incredulously, feeling more surprised by this than he knew he probably should be._ But wouldn't that mean it couldn't be very-- No, I'm not going to think about this,_ he decided, ignoring his curiosity about whether the spirit had stolen it right off of someone's house or merely from a box in a warehouse somewhere. He hoped it wasn't the sort of thing with a serial number the police could use to identify it, since the detective was clearly interested in where it had come from.

"Nothing is ever secure against a _competent_ thief," the spirit answered him. "But as we've already seen, this door is perfectly effective against fools who would attempt to blindly force their way inside."

Ryou had to give him that. _You really don't know who tried to break in?_

"I haven't a clue."

_How about why they broke in?_ Ryou didn't have anything valuable in the apartment, but at this point he wouldn't put it past the spirit to have large amounts of stolen cash or jewelry hidden in the walls or something. Not to mention all the enemies the spirit might have that he knew nothing about.

"I don't know that either." The spirit's face wasn't giving anything away.

_Then why did you even decide to fortify this apartment, when you didn't do it for any of the other places we lived?_ Ryou asked skeptically.

"The other places we lived weren't near the _Pharaoh_."

Ryou didn't know whether to believe him or not. The spirit was certainly paranoid enough about the Pharaoh for it to be true, but... _You honestly thought the Pharaoh would just come over and try to kick down the door to our apartment?_

"Not necessarily the Pharaoh himself. He draws others to him," the spirit replied. "Others who tend to be interested in the Millennium Items."

_I suppose that's true._

Ryou decided any more thought about the issue could wait. He made himself a sandwich for dinner, even though everything about the past few hours had left him without much of an appetite.

After he'd eaten, he walked through the apartment, now involuntarily taking note of every weakness in the defenses. He made sure every single window was locked, even though he knew that whoever it was had broken a window on the first floor to get into the building. It may not have made much sense, but at least it felt like he was doing something.

Of course, it didn't stop him from coming up with ways the maniac could get inside. He could climb a ladder and get through a window; fling a rope up to the fire escape and, again, break through a window; break into the first floor apartment again and come up through the floor; go through the first floor apartment to the stairs, break into the third floor apartment and cut a hole in the ceiling; get a blowtorch and cut through the front door...

_If he was that determined, why **didn't** he do any of those things?_ Ryou couldn't help but wonder as he put on his pajamas.

"Because he was _insultingly_ unprepared to be breaking into this apartment," the spirit replied from Ryou's bed.

Ryou thought of the way the would-be burglar had ripped a railing off the wall instead of bringing a tool to get through the door and had to agree. _But how could he be targeting me – or us, or this apartment – specifically, and still be that unprepared? It doesn't make sense._

Ryou turned off the lights and got into bed. He pulled the covers up over himself and looked at the spirit, who was reclined next to him on the bed, scowling determinedly at the ceiling.

_If you don't get over here quickly, Landlord, I might just leave you to your nightmares._

Ryou tried not to snicker as he hugged the spirit, still enjoying how uncomfortable he could make the spirit with just a hug, of all things. His mood fell a bit as he thought about exactly why they were in that position. Ryou was certain that if he had a nightmare tonight, it would be about either the cauldron or about a maniac breaking into his apartment to murder him. Or possibly a horrifying combination where a maniac broke into his apartment, killed him, and then... Ryou shuddered.

_The point of this is that I __**don't**__ want to experience your thoughts about these things,_ the spirit told him. He sounded annoyed, but it was accompanied by a slight tightening of the embrace to stop Ryou's trembling.

It worked, and Ryou felt a little calmer. _Thanks._

The spirit only made a derisive noise.

Ryou tried to relax enough to fall asleep, but it was more difficult than normal. He lay there, tensely listening for every little sound in the apartment, wondering if someone had gotten inside.

_If someone gets inside, believe me, I will let you know._

Ryou did trust the spirit to know the instant someone made it into the apartment, but... _What if you can't wake me up?_

_A sudden drop onto the bed should wake even you._

_I guess..._ Ryou could see that working, but he still felt generally anxious.

It was quiet for a moment until the spirit made a frustrated noise and started to rub Ryou's back in large circles with one hand. It wasn't... _intense_... like most of the other times the spirit had done it. It was just... calming. Comforting. Ryou began to feel safe again, slowly relaxing enough to fall asleep.

_I could get used to this,_ he thought fuzzily, just as sleep finally claimed him for the night.


	14. A Battle Of Wills

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 13) – A Battle Of Wills  
**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others  
**Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou snuggled closer to the spirit, nuzzling his neck. The spirit's hands moved down his body, first running over his shoulders... then down his back... then finally settling lower down with a soft _squeeze_.

Ryou gasped in surprise. He clung to the spirit as the kneading continued, the massage grinding his hips down into the body beneath him. _Oh g-god._ He'd needed this, needed it far more badly than he'd ever realized. So badly he couldn't possibly stop for anything, no, not even the alarm clock, oh god, why did the alarm clock have to go off _now_, not _now_, just a little longer, _please_...

"As much as I enjoy listening to you beg, Landlord, I believe it's time for you to wake up."

Ryou froze midthrust, his attempt to keep reality away failing horribly. He was too mortified to even contemplate moving. His eyes glanced up at what he could see of the spirit's face, where for a brief instant he could have sworn he saw a smirk, which was quickly replaced by a peeved expression.

"Of course I'm _peeved_ after what you were doing," the spirit said, tone full of disdain.

_I-I'm s-sorry, _Ryou babbled. _I didn't mean to-- I was asleep-- I c-couldn't help it._

"That may be true, but where does that leave me?"

_I d-don't know?_ Ryou desperately wished he could move right now. He had no idea why the spirit hadn't simply disappeared from under him, given the circumstances.

"With what I just put up with, I really do think you _owe_ me."

_O-owe you?_

"I fully expect to be repaid for this, Landlord," the spirit added softly, caressing Ryou's cheek with one finger.

For one short, intense moment, Ryou thought his perverse dream might not in fact be over quite yet.

"That isn't the sort of repayment I had in mind, actually."

Ryou felt a tiny bit of suspicion growing inside him, displacing some of his embarrassment. _What sort of repayment did you mean, then?_

"Just a small thing I would like you to do for me."

The suspicion quickly became full-on distrust. _What thing?_

"The tomb keeper has a magic book. I would like you to take a look at it. That's all."

_No,_ Ryou replied adamantly. He had no idea why the spirit wanted him to do it, but he knew he wanted no part of it.

"All you have to do is look. Aren't you the least bit sorry about what you were doing to me?"

Ryou fought off the guilt and embarrassment he was feeling, a much easier task now that he knew how the spirit was trying to manipulate him. _Hey, you've done things just as... as... _Ryou stopped for a second and then started over again. _You've done __**things**__ to me plenty of times without my permission, and you're never sorry. For all I know, you were doing it this time_, he accused.

"What, doing _this_?" the spirit asked, lowering one hand and squeezing the way he had in the dream.

Ryou choked on his intended response, hips jerking downward against his will. Pleasure coursed through him, renewing the desperation he'd felt right upon waking. Power of movement restored, he frantically rolled off the spirit to get rid of any temptation to embarrass himself further.

"Still think I was responsible?"

_N-no. I guess not. _ More than a few seconds of that, and he would have...

Blood rushed to Ryou's face at the thought of waking up to find _that_ had happened while in the position they'd been in. He might well be calling Marik about a book right about now...

"Is that so?"

_It won't work anymore, _Ryou said quickly. _I've caught on, now._

"You might as well agree right now, Landlord," the spirit said, looming over him. "You only lasted five minutes of the torment I inflicted on you the last time you refused to do what I wanted you to."

Ryou got out of bed and headed for the shower. _What ended up happening when I gave in last time is motivation enough to resist now. _Ryou shed his clothes as fast as he could manage before he changed his mind. He wouldn't let the spirit intimidate him this time. He wouldn't.

He got in the shower and turned on the cold water, flinching even before it hit him. It might have given him a small advantage against what he knew the spirit likely had planned for him, but cold showers still weren't the most enjoyable thing in the world.

"All this discomfort is easily avoided by doing what I've told you."

_Not happening. _Ryou sped through his morning routine, keeping himself moving to make it difficult for the spirit to catch hold of him. Not that the spirit had actually tried, yet. Ryou thought he must be saving whatever he had planned until Ryou was at school. It had worked last time, after all.

Ryou hesitated before opening the front door to leave. He tried to look through the peephole, but the view had been shattered during the frenzied attack on the door. He had no way to know if there was someone lurking out there, waiting for him.

"There's no one on the stairs. I just checked."

_Oh. _At least the spirit's paranoia finally coming in handy. Ryou opened the door and carefully made his way outside around the pole, which he ended up using to pull the door shut behind him. He locked the door and looked around, noticing that the area hadn't been cleaned up yet. He wondered if his landlord would be coming by, and if he'd be angry at him for... well, any number of things about the situation.

Ryou walked out of the building and was relieved to see what had to be the police guard sitting in a car just outside. The officer nodded to him as he walked by.

Ryou made it to school just in time, barely having a moment to say hi to the others before class started.

As Ryou had expected, the spirit started his slow campaign of torment as soon as he'd sat down at his desk. Ryou had built up a certain amount of resistance during the short time the spirit had tried using this method to distract him from his nightmares, so he was able to pretend nothing was going on for a little while before it became too much for him to handle. At that point, all he could do was cling to his desk and try to keep himself relatively unnoticeable.

Gym class was too active for the spirit to do anything to him. If he'd tried anything, Ryou could have easily thrown him off without arousing any suspicion. Running expended some of the built up energy, making him feel a little better when lunch came around.

He cringed when the spirit appeared behind him at the lunch table. _I-If you do something now, I might choke on my lunch and die,_ Ryou thought. _That's bad for you, too, right?_

_Heh. Fine. You can have your lunch._

Marik sat down next to Ryou at the table and immediately started talking. "I looked into some of my family's stuff, but so far haven't found anything."

Ryou blinked at him as he chewed a bite of his sandwich, at first having no idea what he was talking about. Then he remembered what Marik had said he intended to do, before Ryou had gone home and found an entirely different mess to deal with. "Oh. Right."

Marik stared at him. "You can't have forgotten already."

"No, of course not. It's just that..." Ryou debated whether or not to tell Marik about what had happened. He didn't want to make anyone worried about him unnecessarily. But it did potentially involve the Millennium Items, he realized, which meant that Marik and Yugi might be in danger. "Something sort of happened yesterday after I left the museum."

"Happened?"

"Um." He turned to Yugi, who was sitting across from him, rushing to finish a homework assignment due that afternoon. "You should hear this, too." He told them what he'd come home to find the day before, pole in the door and everything.

"He put a pole through solid steel?" Yugi asked. He hadn't looked at his homework since Ryou had started his story.

"Yeah," Ryou said. "The police don't know how that's possible." He toyed with his nearly untouched sandwich. "Do you think it could be related to..." Ryou looked at the puzzle hanging around Yugi's neck.

"The items?" Yugi asked. "Maybe. A normal person wouldn't have that kind of strength, but someone involved with shadow magic might."

Ryou heard Marik make strangled sound, and turned to see his friend almost frozen with terror. "You don't think it could be..." Marik said. He looked up at Ryou, wide-eyed. "I mean, I was with you. He couldn't have taken over and..."

"If he came back from the Shadow Realm on his own somehow, maybe," Yugi said.

Ryou tried to think of something useful to say, but he had no real experience with Marik's dark side. He only knew what little the others had told him. "If he were back, wouldn't he try to come after you first?" Ryou asked, only realizing after he said it that it really wasn't that comforting a thought. "Er, I mean--"

Marik put a hand on Ryou's arm. "It's okay. I know what you mean," he said. "And I think you're right. He'd come after me first, not try to break into your apartment when you aren't even there."

"Maybe it was the Spirit of the Millennium Ring," Yugi said. "We still don't know what happened to him after he left your body."

"No, it couldn't be him," Ryou said automatically, before remembering that the others would probably want a reason. "U-um..."

_How about because **I** wouldn't have been beating against the door like a moron?_

That was good enough for Ryou. "I'm pretty sure he's the one who put in the reinforced door in the first place," Ryou said. "And even if he didn't, he lived in the apartment for months. He'd have definitely known how to get inside without leaving any sign. Trying to break in through the front door isn't very like him, either."

"Yeah, he'd have gone about it a completely different way," Marik said, looking away from him for a moment.

"It could have just been someone after the Millennium Ring," Yugi said. "Someone we don't even know."

"But I don't even have the Millennium Ring anymore," Ryou said. "It would have to be someone who knows I had the ring before, but doesn't know I got rid of it."

"Maybe that's why they went to your apartment," Marik said. "It might have been someone who saw you weren't wearing the ring anymore and assumed you were leaving it at home now."

"If that's true, he might be coming after one of you soon," Ryou said.

"Forget about us," Marik said. "If it's true, he'll be coming back for you again. Are you sure you're okay alone?"

"I'm fine," Ryou said, not wanting anyone to worry about him. "The police have someone watching the building, so if he comes back, they'll get him." Not that Ryou entirely believed that. The officer might well see whoever it was and try to stop them, but how effective could a normal human being be against someone who could put a pole through a steel door?

"They won't be able to if this person is using shadow magic," Marik said, echoing Ryou's thoughts a little.

"I still have the steel door," Ryou said. "You two don't have that kind of protection," he added, trying to divert the conversation elsewhere.

"The front door isn't the only way someone can get in," Marik said doubtfully.

Yugi nodded. "Is the rest of your apartment protected at all?" he asked.

"I... don't know," Ryou said. He hadn't thought about it before, but would the spirit really go to the trouble of fortifying the front door and _only_ the front door?

_Of course not,_ the spirit replied.

_Wait, what else did you do?_ Ryou hadn't seen anything else, but then the modification to the door hadn't been especially visible either.

_I'm not telling you. You would only go and blab it to everyone around you. Let's just say we're well prepared._

Ryou hoped that didn't mean he should be worried about accidentally springing hidden traps inside his own apartment. He looked from Marik to Yugi. "I haven't noticed anything, but the spirit was very good at hiding things like this. And besides, whoever it was tried to get in while I wasn't there. He probably doesn't want to run into me at all."

"That doesn't mean he _won't_ run into you if you happen to come home at the wrong time," Marik said.

"It's fine. Really."

Marik opened his mouth to say something, but the bell rang just then, allowing Ryou to escape further discussion of the matter.

Afternoon classes were sheer torture. The spirit more than made up for the short break he'd given Ryou, and in fact seemed to benefit from the effect it had. He had an entirely new strategy now, and seemed to delight in driving Ryou to distraction, then allowing him to calm down slightly, then getting him worked up all over again, over and over and over...

Ryou tried to pay attention to the teacher in spite of this, and he made it through one full class period before he had to give up, hiding his head in his arms so that no one could see his incredibly inappropriate reactions.

Ryou all but leapt up out of his chair when his last class finally ended, flinging the spirit off him. He rubbed his face, hoping his state wouldn't be completely obvious to everyone in the room. He shoved his things in his bag as quickly as possible, but also managed to drop half his stuff on the floor in the process.

He sighed. _This is not my day,_ he thought, crouching down to pick his stuff up off the floor as the rest of the class filed out around him.

Marik came over to help him. "Bakura..."

Ryou didn't want another argument about his safety. "Thanks for helping me," he said brightly, putting the rest of his things in his bag. He stood up immediately afterward.

Marik did the same, and tried to continue whatever he was going to say, but was interrupted by Joey. "Hey, Bakura. Yugi just told me someone tried to break into your apartment."

"Um. Yeah. It's not that big of a deal, really," Ryou said.

"It _is_ that big of a deal," Marik said.

"Look, I know some people," Joey said. "I can ask around. See if anyone knows anything about who might have done it."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous for you?" Ryou asked.

Joey waved dismissively. "It's no problem. If I hear anything you'll be the first to know," he said, heading out the door and leaving Ryou alone with Marik in the otherwise empty classroom.

Ryou moved to leave as well. "I'll see you--"

"Wait!" Marik said, grabbing his wrist to prevent him from going anywhere. "You can't just walk back to your apartment alone when someone might be after you."

The spirit chose that moment to renew his physical campaign against Ryou, coming up behind him and lightly massaging his backside. _Yes, it would be much better if you went somewhere else with the tomb keeper._

Ryou nearly squeaked at suddenly being touched in such a sensitive place. He bit his lip, momentarily forgetting what he and Marik had even been talking about.

Marik immediately let go of his wrist and stared at him, wide-eyed. "Um. Sorry. I didn't mean to--" Marik shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'm coming with you."

"Th-that really isn't necessary," Ryou said, words almost a pant. It was a much harder struggle to seem normal when he had to actually _talk_.

"I'm still not letting you go alone," Marik said, arms crossed.

Ryou could tell that no amount of arguing was going to change his mind. "Okay. B-but we have to go right now," he said.

Marik nodded. "Let's go."

Being able to walk freely was a huge relief. The spirit left Ryou alone as he made his way toward the apartment with Marik, just as he had the other times Ryou had been moving around too much for him to grab onto.

Ryou felt conflicted about his new bodyguard – part of him was happy to have someone so genuinely concerned for his safety, but another part of him felt like he shouldn't be taking up his friend's time with something like this. He looked over at Marik. "You seem pretty certain something is going to happen."

"I'm not," Marik said. "But I don't want to just leave you to possibly face something like that on your own."

"Do you still think it's...?" Ryou trailed off, not sure he should even have brought it up.

"No," Marik said. "I don't think it's actually _him_. But we don't know anything about who it really is, so my mental image of the mystery burglar is still him..."

"Oh."

The two walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the apartment, Ryou pointed out the police guard to Marik. "See, they have someone here. I'm sure no one could have gotten in."

_Anyone could get around one of these fools, _the spirit said from a distance. _But the inside of the apartment and the surrounding areas are clear._

Ryou had to admit he was a little relieved to hear that, but it also made him wish he had a way to convince Marik.

"I still want to make sure there's no one inside," Marik said.

"Okay," Ryou said, unlocking the door and leading him up to the second floor. The rubble had been cleaned off the floor at some point while he was at school, but the walls were very obviously damaged and the pole was still sticking right out of the door.

Marik stared at it. "You weren't exaggerating, were you?"

Ryou shook his head. He went over to unlock the door, leading Marik inside around the pole.

Marik looked around. "There doesn't seem to be anyone here right now."

Ryou put his stuff down next to the couch and leaned back against the side. "See, it's fine." He smiled at Marik.

But Marik stood right in front of him, clearly not buying it. "That doesn't mean he won't _ever_ be back."

"He'd have to get past that door," Ryou said. He felt the spirit appear behind him, but Marik was blocking his only escape route at the moment.

The spirit hugged Ryou, resting his hands on his stomach. _He's right here. He wants to get you out of here. Ask him about the book._

"You could stay with me for a few days," Marik said. "I'm sure Ishizu wouldn't mind."

The spirit lowered one of his hands and _rubbed_ him._ Say yes, Landlord._

"No! I won't!_"_ Ryou said, gripping the couch hard. He forced himself to remain still and upright, even though his body wanted him to be doing any number of other things right then. His face was too hot, his whole body was too hot, and he really, really didn't need Marik to be staring at him like that just then. "I m-mean, it's just not a good idea right now," he added, trying to make up for his sudden outburst.

"It doesn't have to be me, if I make you that... um... " Marik took a moment to find the word he needed. "..._uncomfortable_. I'm sure one of the others would let you stay over."

"You don't make me uncomfortable," Ryou hastened to assure him. He wished he could explain who was _really_ making him uncomfortable. "I just n-need to be alone for a while."

"Yeah. I can see that," Marik said, sounding odd in a way that Ryou couldn't quite place. "If you change your mind later, though..."

"I'll call you," Ryou said. "I promise." He hoped he could hold himself together until Marik left, but he knew he wasn't doing that great a job as it was.

"I'll just leave, then," Marik said, walking to the door.

"I'll see you another time," Ryou said, throwing off the spirit to go lock the door behind him. He leaned against the door for a moment afterward.

The spirit stood in front of him, looking him over. _You've barely made it through the day. Do you really think you can resist forever?_

_I can try, _Ryou said, running to the bathroom for his second cold shower of the day.

Though, if he were honest with himself, he didn't think he could take it much longer at all.


	15. Resistance Is Futile

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 14) – Resistance Is Futile  
**Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others  
**Rating**: M  
**Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.  
**A/N**: Yup, two chapters in one weekend. This one was already mostly written and I wanted to get it done quickly because I start gainful employment tomorrow. Updates will probably be slowing down a bit, but I promise to update at least once a week until this is finished.

* * *

The next week felt more like several months. The spirit's torture got worse and worse as he continually discovered more ways to make Ryou's body dance at his command.

Ryou had a few lucky periods everyday that could be considered a cease-fire of sorts: when he was eating, because it might make him choke; when he was walking around, because it made him too difficult to touch; and when he was sleeping, because Ryou had convinced the spirit that if he did anything differently during that time, the nightmares would come back. Ryou was also left mostly alone during his many daily cold showers, but that was in its own way a part of the torment.

His dreams that week had been very... highly charged, but any time he came close to a resolution, the spirit would drop out from under him, shocking him awake. He was lucky the burglar hadn't come back in that time, because he would never have been able to think clearly enough to get away.

The weekend had been the least difficult part of the week; he'd been able to talk Marik into doing things that involved a lot of walking, so he'd been able to both see one of his friends and avoid the spirit's torture for most of the day at the same time.

But then Monday had come and he'd been trapped in his chair at school again, with nothing to stop the spirit from playing his body like an instrument. He'd barely made it through the day, fleeing for his apartment the moment school ended.

Tuesday hadn't been much better, and by the time the school day had ended he'd nearly given in on the issue of the magic book several times. A few of those times he'd even gotten as far as starting to ask Marik about it, regaining control and stopping himself before he actually mentioned the book. Each time he'd had to figure out some other reason why he would have come up to Marik, which had led to a series of implausible explanations and a bizarrely phrased invitation to the movies, which Marik, while clearly bewildered by the whole exchange, had accepted.

Marik had been watching him since the weekend and seemed to be trying to figure out what was going on, but he still hadn't said anything. By the third time Ryou had started a conversation intending to ask Marik about the book, he was certain that Marik knew something was up (how could he not?) but he appeared to think that Ryou would simply break down and tell him in his own time.

It wasn't very encouraging, really.

By Wednesday both Ryou's body and his sanity were under considerable strain, and the spirit had discovered a new weapon to use against him: words. The first few days the spirit had only used words to goad him into doing what he wanted, trying to convince Ryou that it would be much easier to just give in.

But on Wednesday the spirit had tried another tactic, saying some of the _filthiest_ things Ryou had ever heard in his entire life while he slowly caressed his body. Most of them weren't possible while the spirit didn't have a real body, and some of them Ryou didn't think were possible _at all_, but that didn't make them any less effective. Ryou felt more embarrassed by some of the things he'd responded to than by the fact that the spirit was feeling him up during class – though there had been a disturbing intersection of those two things whenever the spirit talked about what he might do to Ryou while everyone watched. He'd had a perpetual blush the whole day long, even during lunch when the spirit wasn't actually doing anything to him.

And it didn't help that the things the spirit said were starting to slip into his own speech at the worst possible times, leaving him stumbling over words he'd never intended to say. The first time he'd messed up, he'd been talking to Yugi, who fortunately had been too tired to notice. Joey and Tristan had thought some of the inappropriate things he said were hilarious. Marik just seemed to be growing more concerned about him as the day went on. It almost backfired on the spirit, since this gave Ryou more incentive to avoid talking to Marik at all, reducing the number of times he'd nearly given in that day.

Today was Thursday, and Ryou was determined not to let the spirit break his will. His strategy would be to simply ignore him completely. He'd tried that before and failed, but today he would persevere, no matter what happened.

Marik caught him on the way into the classroom. "Are you doing anything after school? 'Cause I think we should go somewhere."

"Okay," Ryou said, looking forward to actually doing something enjoyable with a friend. The spirit had prevented that the past few days, but he wasn't letting the spirit affect him anymore. "Like where?"

"Somewhere we can talk," Marik said.

That statement left Ryou slightly uneasy, but the start of class kept him from replying.

The spirit began his usual torment, but Ryou was ready for it, attention focused firmly on the teacher as he took notes on everything said, including things that probably didn't need to be written down at all. He feel the spirit touching him, but he just pretended to himself that his body was having some kind of spontaneous reaction to nothing. He tuned out everything the spirit was saying to him.

The spirit got more annoyed with Ryou as his first and then second class went by without him ever losing focus for more than a few seconds. Finally, the spirit let go of him and moved to stand directly in front of him, semi-blocking his view of the teacher. _You can't ignore me forever, Landlord._

Ryou squinted at the teacher, who now looked slightly fuzzy for some reason. Maybe he needed glasses. He should get his eyes tested; school was important, and he needed to be able to pay attention to the teacher without anything distracting him.

_Oh, is that how it's going to be?_ _We'll see about that,_ the spirit said with a fiendish grin, ducking beneath (and partly through) Ryou's desk.

Ryou had a moment of pause as he felt the spirit's hands on his thighs, but really, it wasn't that different from the other things he'd done. He was a little more confused when he felt the spirit's head brush against his stomach.

_What are you-- o-oh god--!_ Ryou doubled over in his chair, left hand covering his open mouth, right hand holding on to the desk for dear life. Blood raced through his cheeks, his ears, his neck, and soon it felt like his entire body was blushing. The hand over his mouth did little to stop the small, plaintive sounds he made from escaping.

His eyes had flown wide open when he felt the spirit's mouth on him, but now he squeezed them shut, trying to block out the rest of the world. He squirmed in his chair, too overwhelmed to sit still. Why did the spirit have to do this to him in class, anyone could see him, anyone could be watching him come undone _right now,_ oh god, why--

His toes curled inside his shoes, his whole body tensed, and oh god, he was about to--

About to--

He froze in his chair as all sensation suddenly ceased, the spirit disappearing from under his desk and reappearing in front of him without a word, leaving him painfully close to the edge without ever pushing him over.

_W-why?_ Ryou asked, feeling like he was about to cry. _Why did you stop? Y-you can't just stop like that, you can't..._

The spirit looked innocent. _I just realized how very unfair it is to distract you during class._

Ryou nearly threw his desk at him. He had to remind himself that it could never actually hit the spirit and would probably end up hitting someone else instead. Not to mention that everyone would think he'd lost his mind, if they didn't already. He put his forehead down on his desk, his whole body still tensed expectantly.

He was so close to what he needed that he knew even the smallest touch could set him off. The shift of his clothes against him, a short rub against the bottom of the desk, he could even just reach down and quickly... Ryou felt a new embarrassment wash over him at what he was thinking. _N-no. I can't do that. I'm in class, surrounded by other people. It would be wrong._ He swallowed nervously._ Very, very wrong._

The spirit laughed at him. _You need to learn to just take what you want, Landlord._

As soon as they were away from other people, Ryou was going to kill him. It didn't matter that he was already dead, Ryou would find a way. And if Ryou couldn't do that, he would hold him down and hit him over and over, just _pounding_ on him again and again until...

Ryou looked down and realized his hand had formed into a fist, crumbling several pieces of paper out of his notebook in the process. He sighed, smoothing the papers out before resting his head sideways on his desk.

It was then that he noticed Marik blatantly staring at him, biting one knuckle and looking visibly dazed. Their eyes locked for a moment, before both abruptly looked away. Ryou hid his face in his hands. _How much of that did he see?_

Ryou remained like that until he had to get up for gym. They were playing dodgeball that day, and he left everyone stunned by the ferocious way he threw the balls – as well as a little confused by the way he would occasionally viciously launch the ball at a totally unoccupied spot on the playing field.

"I think you've found your sport," Tristan told him when he won the last game.

"Um. I guess so," Ryou said, feeling a little bad about how he'd been hurling balls at totally innocent people, even if that was the point of the game.

Ryou gulped down his lunch without even tasting it. He regretted it a little when it left him with nothing to do but talk to the others for most of the lunch period, too wound up to make good conversation. Add to that the way Marik kept studying him, and the whole thing became even more stressful. He was glad when it was over, even if it probably meant yet more torture from the spirit.

There was really only so much more the spirit could do at this point without accidentally ending the torment, anyway.

The spirit seemed to agree with him about that, only taking a moment to caress Ryou's neck before simply leaving him to his own thoughts. Thoughts that Ryou was quickly discovering were as bad as anything the spirit had said to him, only worse in their own way, because he was the one coming up with them. At least he had an excuse when he was asleep.

The spirit mostly stood around smirking at Ryou as his fantasies became dirtier and dirtier, sometimes laughing or making a comment like "Really, Landlord, I would be out of those ropes within seconds."

Ryou had never been happier to see school end than he was that day. He got up and began forcefully shoving his things in his bag one by one. Marik came over to him, and he remembered what he'd agreed to that morning, but he also knew there was no way he'd be able to talk seriously about anything just then, if he could even pay attention at all.

"Um. I know we were supposed to, ah, do something today, but..."

"It's okay." Marik grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes. "I think you really need to go home and... uh... _relax_." He put a strange emphasis on that last word.

"Relax?" Ryou knew there was something here he wasn't getting, something that would probably be obvious if his head weren't so full of fog.

Marik shook Ryou's shoulders once. "Yeah. Just go home and... _relax_... as much as you need to."

Ryou bit back a groan as the spirit hugged him from behind, then gave him one long, slow caress from chest to stomach. He struggled to make a logical response. "R-relax how?"

Marik just stared at him for a moment, first in apparent disbelief, then in mild frustration. He shook Ryou once more and stopped, visibly refraining from shaking him several more times. "Go home and... maybe lie down..." Marik was looking at his face as though expecting some kind of recognition that he just wasn't getting. He took one hand off of Ryou's shoulder and held it over his own face for a moment, clearly having no idea how he was supposed to continue. "Just... do whatever comes naturally. Until you... um... _feel better_."

"Okay..." Ryou could feel the spirit snickering at his back, but he was already having enough problems with his attention being diverted in two different directions and knew he couldn't afford a third.

Marik dropped both hands at his sides. "I'll just go home, then."

"To relax?" Ryou asked, still somewhat confused by their conversation. The spirit shook with increasing laughter.

Marik gave him a sharp look, searching his face for something. His expression cleared after a few seconds, leaving him looking as though he didn't know whether to laugh or to grab Ryou and shake him some more. Marik shook his head. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, heading out of the classroom without him.

Ryou marched home with a single-minded determination. He barely waited for the spirit to tell him it was safe to come up before going inside – putting a pole through a steel door didn't seem like that difficult or impressive a feat at the moment. He walked to his bedroom and dropped his bag next to the door, then just _stared_ at the spirit, who was sitting on the bed.

"I think today went rather well, don't you?" the spirit asked, looking as smug as ever.

Ryou would never quite know why the spirit hadn't anticipated it. Perhaps the thought was too similar to any number of the other perverse thoughts streaming through his head that day, and so didn't stick out enough. Perhaps the spirit was too busy gloating about his success that day to notice what was coming. Or perhaps he just didn't think Ryou had it in him.

But whatever the reason may have been, the fact was that Ryou's sudden flight across the room to pin him down on the bed took the spirit completely and utterly by surprise. "Landlord, what the hell are you-- mmph!" Ryou kissed him before he could escape, using the advantage of surprise to slip his tongue inside the spirit's mouth. It was incredibly clumsy, since he'd never kissed anyone before, but it still felt wonderful, and so did sticking his hand under the spirit's shirt.

He was contemplating the feel of the spirit's tongue against his – quite strange, since the spirit's mouth wasn't wet, and had texture but not really any taste – when the spirit finally recovered from his shock and disappeared, dropping Ryou onto the bed on his stomach. He reappeared on top of Ryou, mouth right next to his ear. "And just what did you think you were doing?"

That tone might have terrified Ryou in the past, but it wasn't working on him now. "I'm taking what I want," he said, rolling over and attempting to grab the spirit, who simply disappeared again, this time reappearing to the side of the bed.

"You didn't really think it would be that easy, did you?" the spirit mocked.

"I don't _care_ how difficult it is," Ryou said, reaching out for him again.

The spirit reappeared on top of him again, surprising Ryou with a kiss much the way Ryou had done to him a few moments ago. Except the spirit actually knew what he was doing, Ryou thought as he felt the tongue moving inside his mouth, making him groan and cling to the spirit's shoulders. He jerked his hips upward, needing to feel the spirit against him. He distantly wondered how the spirit had managed to turn this back on him so quickly.

The spirit chuckled mentally, grinding down against Ryou without breaking the kiss.

_Oh god. _Ryou moaned helplessly into the spirit's mouth, bringing up his hands to tangle in the spirit's hair.

_Do you want this to continue?_

_Yes. Please don't stop this time,_ Ryou said, remembering every single other time the spirit _had_ stopped.

The spirit paused what he was doing, but didn't actually disappear. He held their bodies together without moving, breaking the kiss to bite Ryou's neck softly. _Are you agreeing to what I've asked you to do?_

_Please... _Ryou begged, not wanting to agree to anything.

_You have to agree, Landlord._ The spirit kissed his jawbone. _Otherwise... I stop._

_N-no! Don't stop, _Ryou said desperately, holding onto the spirit as tightly as he could, though he knew it would be ineffective if the spirit really wanted to disappear.

_Well?_ The spirit had stopped everything now and held his face right above Ryou's, looking him in the eyes.

Ryou shifted beneath him, trying to regain the wonderful feeling he'd experienced when the spirit had been moving against him and letting out a soft cry in frustration when it didn't work. He looked back up at the spirit's impassive face, thinking that he'd barely lasted a week, how would he ever last a month or two months or even a year of this torture? He bit his lip. _I-if..._

The spirit smirked a little. _Yes, if...?_

Ryou closed his eyes. _If you'll tell me why you want to see the book, and it isn't something that will hurt anyone... I... I agree. But you have to finish what you started._

_Of course,_ the spirit said. He leaned down to kiss Ryou again, rubbing their bodies together in a steady rhythm.

It was over embarrassingly quickly. Ryou broke the kiss and sobbed into the spirit's shoulder in relief as pleasure finally exploded through him, reaching every muscle in his body and releasing all the tension that had built up inside him. It had been so _long_ and it had never felt like _this_ on his own and...

Ryou couldn't help it. He giggled. The giggle turned into a chuckle, and soon he was shaking with laughter. He'd never laughed this freely in his entire life.

The spirit let go of Ryou and sat up, glaring at him. _What's so funny?_

_I don't know,_ Ryou answered honestly, feeling unable to stop. He tried to stifle his laughter, but only succeeded in shaking silently for a few seconds before it came back. He rolled over onto his side and continued his laughing fit.

_You've lost your mind,_ the spirit said, crossing his arms and looking away from Ryou.

_I think you're right..._ Ryou carried on for another minute or so before calming down.

_Are you finished?_

A final small snicker escaped from Ryou, and he turned to lie on his back, exhausted. _I think so. Does that, um, normally happen?_

The spirit scowled at him._** No**_.

_Oh._ From the spirit's tone, Ryou thought he probably wasn't going to have anything like that again any time soon.

The scowl left the spirit's face. _You can have it as often as you like, Landlord, as long as you continue to cooperate._

Ryou closed his eyes, remembering what he'd agreed to do to get that wonderful feeling. _You said you'd tell me why you want me to look at the book._

_So I did,_ the spirit said. He paused, and for a moment Ryou thought he'd have to drag the information out of him, but then he continued shortly afterward. _I want a body of my own._

_What? _Ryou asked, shaking off the sleepiness trying to overtake him and sitting up on the bed. _I only agreed to do this if it wouldn't hurt anyone. I'm not going to help you steal someone else's--_

The spirit cut him off. _I don't intend to take someone else's body this time. I want to create my own._

_Oh. _Ryou considered that for a moment. _Is that even possible?_

_I don't know. That's why I want you to look at the book. There is clearly magic in there that I've never encountered._

Ryou didn't know what to think. He supposed it was possible the spirit was lying, either about how he intended to get a new body or even whether that was really what he wanted at all, but it did seem plausible. Though even if it were true, could he really help the spirit get a new body at all, given what things he would likely do once he had it? And what would he tell his friends about how the spirit had gotten his new body?

_I would like to point out that you **agreed** to this, Landlord. Looking through the book to find a means to give me a body doesn't in and of itself hurt anyone._

That was true, Ryou had to admit. However selfish he'd been to give in when he did, he _had_ agreed to what the spirit was asking. He sighed. _I'll ask Marik about the book tomorrow._

_See how easy that was? I get what I want, you get what want, and the tomb keeper gets what he wants._

_That... wait, what does Marik get?_ Ryou asked, feeling confused.

_He'll get to see that you've **relaxed** and are now **feeling better**, _the spirit said, looking unbearably smug.

Ryou's mind replayed his earlier conversation with Marik for him, the whole thing taking on an entirely different meaning now that he was completely lucid. _W-wait, he was talking about..._ He buried his face in his hands, feeling incredibly thick. Ryou couldn't ask Marik about the book now; he'd be too busy avoiding Marik for the rest of his life.

_You **will** get him to show you that book, Landlord._

But Ryou was still thinking about the conversation with Marik. _And I asked him if he was... Oh god..._ Ryou pulled his knees up in front of him, hugging them to his chest.

_He's the one who brought it up in the first place,_ the spirit said impatiently. _He seemed far less upset by the whole thing than you are right now._

He _had_ been all but ordering Ryou to go home and... _relax_, as he'd put it. _I guess I'll have to talk to him eventually. He probably thinks I'm nuts. How am I supposed to explain how I've been acting lately?_

The spirit chuckled. _You don't have to explain anything. Just let him use his own explanation and don't contradict him._

_What if he doesn't have an explanation for me to go along with?_

_Oh, I'm fairly certain that he does,_ the spirit replied, smirking as though he had a particularly entertaining secret.

Ryou put his head down on his knees._ I don't even want to know, do I?_

_Probably not. But you'll have to find out tomorrow either way._

Ryou stretched himself out and dragged his tired body off the bed. _Then I'll find out tomorrow, _he thought, walking out of the room to take a much-needed hot shower.

His other problems could wait.


	16. To Appease A Relentless Spirit

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 15)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou would have given anything not to go to school today, but at school he was, hiding behind a large bush just outside the entrance. He'd been goaded by the spirit into leaving early, but as far as he was concerned, he could put off talking to Marik until he absolutely had to. He didn't want to go up to the classroom, in case Marik had gotten there early as well, but he also didn't want to run into him outside.

Ryou was peeking around the bush at the arriving students when he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped sky-high. "Ah!" He spun around to find Marik standing behind him. The spirit was watching the whole thing from off to the side, with obvious amusement on his face. Ryou would have glared at him if he could. _Why couldn't you have warned me he was coming up behind me?_

_I have no reason to help you avoid him, Landlord._

Ryou would really have preferred arguing with the spirit to facing Marik, but he knew he couldn't get out of it any longer. "H-hi. You don't usually come this way," he said, realizing afterward that he'd pretty much just announced what he'd been trying to do, if it hadn't been obvious already.

"I needed to get something from the store," Marik said, holding up a small box of pencils. He looked Ryou up and down, then nodded. "You're looking a lot better than you were yesterday."

Ryou turned red, shifting uncomfortably under the scrutiny. He knew Marik had to be thinking about _why_ he felt better, which probably meant Marik was thinking about what he'd presumably _done_ to feel better, and while that was bad enough completely on its own, it also meant that Marik was likely remembering their conversation from the day before, which brought whole new levels of embarrassment to the situation.

"Y-yeah. Um." Ryou struggled for the right words to say, though he wasn't sure there even were right words for this situation. "L-listen, I figured out what you were talking about yesterday once I got home." Ryou covered his face with his hands as he realized that sentence might imply something he _really_ didn't want it to. "I m-mean, I already knew about it. The thing you were, um, talking about. I just didn't know you were talking about it. A-and I didn't mean to ask you... to ask you... w-what I asked," he finished weakly. He dropped his hands, knowing he should really look at Marik's face at some point, but only able to bring himself to look at his shoulder.

Marik tilted his head to meet Ryou's gaze, face unreadable. "That's good," he said. "For a moment I really thought I was going to have to explain it to you."

Ryou looked away. "You don't need to explain anything," he said emphatically, wanting to make absolutely sure that Marik _wouldn't_ start explaining it to him. "I'm not that unaware. I was just... n-not really paying attention."

Marik's expression became a little concerned. "Yeah, about that..."

"Can we talk about this later? Somewhere else?" Ryou asked. He didn't like interrupting people, but he was a little desperate not to have that particular conversation just then.

Marik looked at their surroundings. "Right. That's probably a good idea. We have to get to class, anyway," he said, starting for the door and tugging Ryou along with him.

Ryou sat down at his desk and was disturbed to find that his body started _responding_ to where he was, as though expecting the same treatment it had gotten the rest of the week. _Great. I hope this doesn't mean I'm going to find my desk painfully attractive for the rest of the year._ Still, it wasn't anywhere near the level the spirit's torment had been, and Ryou thought he could ignore it without much difficulty.

Or Ryou would have been able to ignore it, if it hadn't made him think of what the spirit had promised him the day before, about being able to have... _that..._ whenever he wanted it.

Ryou wondered why the spirit had even told him that. It seemed like it would make more sense to hold out for specific things he wanted Ryou to do, and only offer it then, not to just have the offer wide open for whenever he wanted it. What if he decided he wanted it ten times a day?

_That eager, are you?_

Ryou turned pink. _Of course not. I was just thinking that what you told me made no sense._

_It's perfectly straightforward. If you cooperate, you can have it as often as you like. Ten times in one day is more likely to be a problem for **you** than for me._

Reflecting on the week of near-continuous torment he'd just experienced, Ryou had to agree with him there. He was still suspicious, though. He couldn't see the spirit doing more than he needed to for no reason. Maybe the spirit wanted to get him addicted to feeling that good, so that he could more effectively torment him if he stopped cooperating.

Or maybe the spirit just didn't think Ryou would ever actually ask him for it, and so he could get away with doing absolutely nothing while Ryou actually had to do things for him. But the only way to find out if that were true would be to call his bluff by taking him up on his offer.

_Interesting justification you've come up with, Landlord._ The spirit appeared next to Ryou's desk. _Are you calling my bluff right now? _

_N-no! _Ryou thought frantically. _I can do that later. Or not at all._

_Heh._ The spirit disappeared again.

Ryou forced his mind off the subject and started working on his homework. He'd been ahead last week, but not having been able to get anything done in the past week, he'd fallen back to where they were supposed to be at this point in the semester. He spent the rest of the day working ahead during all his classes, sitting between Joey and Tristan during lunch to avoid having to talk to Marik.

After school was over Ryou turned to Marik, nervousness filling him again. "Where should we go?"

Marik slung his bag over his shoulder. "How about my apartment? Ishizu should be at work right now, so it'll just be us."

"Okay," Ryou said, trying ignore the dread he was feeling. He followed Marik out of the school and over to his apartment building.

* * *

Marik opened the door to his apartment and waved Ryou inside. Ryou took a moment to admire the place – it looked far more lived in than his did, and he'd been in Domino City somewhat longer. The living room had all the usual stuff like a couch, television, and so on, but it was mixed in with some clearly Egyptian decorations. There was a mirror on the wall just next to the entrance; Ryou wished he didn't look so obviously nervous, but at least he wasn't blushing. Yet.

"Sit down," Marik said, gesturing at the couch.

Ryou took a seat on the couch. Marik sat down at the other end. They sat in silence for nearly a minute, Marik staring at Ryou while Ryou avoided looking in his direction at all.

Marik was the one who finally broke the silence. "Um. Ishizu has me seeing a therapist."

Ryou blinked. Whatever he'd been expecting to come out of Marik's mouth, it hadn't been that. "Is that where you've been going after school?"

"Yeah," Marik said, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

"Do they know about shadow magic and... everything?" Ryou asked, wondering how anyone would go about finding a therapist that would actually believe even half the things happened in relation to the Millennium Items.

"No," Marik said. "He just knows the basics, without any of the magical stuff. To him, I had Dissociative Identity Disorder."

"Oh." Ryou didn't really know what to say. "Is it helping?"

"Um. Yeah, actually," Marik said. "My dark side was where I put everything I couldn't deal with. When he was banished, everything I put there went with him. But I had plenty of unwanted thoughts and feelings after that, and I still had no idea how to deal with them, only now they had nowhere to go..."

"That must have been hard," Ryou said, feeling sympathetic. He'd had plenty of unwanted thoughts and feelings that past week, and he hadn't dealt with them very effectively at all. He had no idea what it would be like to have the kind Marik probably had to contend with, which really made his seem very minor in comparison.

"It was. Less so now, but if I'm not careful and try to go back to what I used to do, I could create another dark side all over again," Marik said, watching Ryou's face as though somewhat uncertain about his reaction.

"Is it really that likely?" Ryou asked. "I don't know that much about what happened to you, but it seemed like a very... um... _extreme_ situation. Wouldn't something that bad have to happen for you do that again?"

"It's not likely, no," Marik said, relaxing at his response. "But it's still possible if I'm not careful. Um." Marik tensed up a little again. "Please don't tell the others about this. Especially the Pharaoh."

"It's really not my business to tell them," Ryou said, knowing he wouldn't have said anything even if Marik hadn't asked him not to.

Marik smiled. "Thanks." His expression turned a little more serious. "Right. Um." Marik paused for a moment, as though trying to think of the right words. "One of the first things I was told was not to try and repress anything I didn't want to feel, because it never works very well. It can actually make the feeling more powerful than it would have been, and people who try it can end up... uh... _obsessing_ about something that wouldn't be that big a deal otherwise, until it completely takes over all their thoughts." Marik looked at Ryou as though expecting some reaction to what he was saying.

Ryou nodded. "That makes sense," he said, not really sure what Marik wanted.

"Yeah." From the look on his face, Marik had been hoping for something else. "And like I said, it doesn't really work. Whatever the person was trying to repress can just start... um... exploding out of them, making them say and do things they wouldn't normally."

"Oh," Ryou said, finding himself unable to continue looking at Marik's face now that he understood who Marik was actually talking about. "I-I'm not repressing anything. Really." The denial sounded weak even to him.

"Then what was this past week?" Marik asked.

_It was me being harassed by a malevolent spirit, _Ryou desperately wanted to say, but couldn't.

_Just go along with it, Landlord._

_No!_ Ryou thought back vehemently. _I don't want Marik to think I'm some kind of... of... repressed sex maniac._

_Oh, I believe he's going to think you're a repressed sex maniac no matter what you say, _the spirit replied. _All you really have influence over is how much he feels he needs to help you with your repressed sex mania._

Ryou fought the urge to hide his face in his hands, knowing that Marik was watching him. He remembered that he'd just been asked a question. "It's not what you think it is."

"Yesterday during class you were..." Marik's expression became a little distant. "You were clinging to your desk and _panting_ and _moaning _like_..._" He shook his head and swallowed, grabbing a pillow to hug in his lap. "What would you call that?"

Ryou's went fully red at the memory, much worse now that he knew Marik had been watching him the whole time. "I d-don't know, but I don't think we can legitimately call it repressed at that point," he said miserably.

"What got you so..." Marik waved one hand. "Worked up?"

_He's not really asking me that, is he?_ Ryou had no idea how to respond. He didn't feel like he could say _any_ of the explanations his mind was throwing at him while Marik was staring at him. "M-my imagination just ran away with me," he said weakly.

"It shouldn't run away with you that much," Marik said. "Not in that situation, anyway."

"I know," Ryou said. "But I was better today, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, but this happened a few other times before this week," Marik replied. "Where you got a little... um... flustered during class. It seems like it's getting worse."

_From his perspective, it really would, wouldn't it?_ Ryou thought, realizing how the other times the spirit had been distracting him lined up. "U-um. If it happens again, I can deal with it then," he said, hoping it _wouldn't_ ever happen again and give Marik the opportunity to use his words against him.

"You really shouldn't let things get that far," Marik said.

"I don't really have any way of stopping it," Ryou said, feeling slightly exasperated. It wasn't like he had control over when the spirit decided to make unreasonable demands.

_You could always do what I want you to all the time, _the spirit offered helpfully.

Ryou didn't bother to dignify that with a response.

Marik cleared his throat. "I really think you do," he said. "Whatever you did yesterday worked pretty well. Why don't you just, um, do that more often?"

_You should listen to him. He's giving you sound advice._

_No! You just want me to have to agree to anything you ask me to do,_ Ryou thought. _And anyway, he thinks I was... o-on my own._ Ryou looked up at Marik's concerned face for a brief instant, then quickly looked away again. "I can't do that," he said, realizing afterward that he really should have just agreed to get the subject dropped.

"Why not?" Marik asked, not that he seemed all that surprised by the response.

_But then, he wouldn't be if he thinks I'm repressed, _Ryou thought. "I just can't," He said evasively. "Why does it matter?"

"It matters because you completely lost yourself during class yesterday," Marik said. "I _think_ I'm the only one who saw, but you can't always count on that. And I, ah, really shouldn't be seeing you like that either," he added, conflicting emotions flickering across his face.

"Oh. R-right." Ryou had been so embarrassed about the fact that Marik had seen him in that state that he'd forgotten what it must have been like for him to have to watch that. Ryou forced himself to look at Marik's face while he apologized. "I'm sorry. I r-really didn't mean for you to see that. It must have been u-uncomfortable." Ryou knew that was an understatement, but it felt like any word would be an understatement in this case.

"Yeah." Marik coughed. "It was a little... distracting," he said, hugging the pillow a little tighter to his body.

"It had to have been worse than that," Ryou said, feeling guilty. "Especially the last time."

"Um. Yeah. Kind of. I mean, I'd already seen you the other times, but I'd never seen you look like _that_ before. I'd never seen _anyone_ look like that before," Marik said, shifting a little in his spot on the couch. "It's not really something you expect to suddenly see in the middle of class. I mean, for a moment there I thought you were going to..." Marik swallowed, his gaze unfocusing a little. "And you were looking right in my direction while it was going on..."

"I didn't want the Pharaoh to see me," Ryou said, feeling a strong urge to justify that particular point, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Marik shook himself out of his revery, then looked at Ryou again. "Right. I wouldn't want the Pharaoh to see me like that either."

There was a short silence.

"W-well. Um. I think that's been settled," Ryou said, hoping they would never speak of it again.

"Wait," Marik said. "At least tell me you'll _consider_ what I suggested. Especially if you start getting... um... _overwhelmed_ again."

"Y-yeah. I'll th-think about it, I guess," Ryou forced himself to agree over his embarrassment. _He's not going to leave me alone if it happens again, is he?_ Ryou thought, imagining having to deal with both the spirit driving him nuts _and_ Marik wanting to talk about his 'problem' at the same time.

_All the more reason to just continue to cooperate, don't you think?_

_**You're** the only reason he even thinks I have a 'problem',_ Ryou thought. _This is all your fault! _

"I'm glad," Marik said, though he didn't seem entirely convinced by Ryou's promise. "Um. One more thing." He paused for a few seconds before continuing, as though not sure he should be bringing it up. "You kept coming up to me this whole week, like you were trying to say something to me." Marik looked unusually nervous.

"Oh. That," Ryou said. "I wanted to ask if I could see that magic book you told me about. I just kept getting distracted," he added, figuring that Marik would probably want some kind of explanation for why he couldn't just ask him properly the first time.

Marik inspected his face closely. "That's really all it was?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah," Ryou said, starting to feel uncomfortable again. "What did you think it was?"

Marik looked extremely relieved. "Nothing." He shook his head and smiled. "I didn't think it was anything. I'll go get the book." He stood up and walked toward the hallway. "I'll be back in a minute."

Ryou watched him go, feeling a little puzzled. _I wonder what that was about._

The spirit appeared next to him on the couch. _I really couldn't imagine._

Ryou eyed the smirk on the spirit's face warily, but since Marik didn't seem concerned by whatever it was anymore, he decided it wasn't worth worrying over.

Marik walked back into the room carrying a large, fat book in his arms. He set it down on the coffee table and sat next to Ryou on the couch. The spirit disappeared from the couch and reappeared on top of the table next to the book.

Ryou admired the designs on the old book's cover, including what looked a little like the version of the Eye of Horus on the Millennium Ring, but he didn't dare touch it. "Shouldn't we at least be wearing gloves?" he asked, remembering the many, _many_ precautions he'd seen his father take with ancient documents when he was younger.

"With other books, maybe. But this one's practically indestructible," Marik said, knocking on the cover. "Don't tell Ishizu, but I once spilled a drink all over one of the pages, and the liquid just sort of vanished. It didn't even leave a stain." He pushed the book in front of Ryou, passing his arm right through the spirit without noticing anything. "Go ahead and look through it if you want. Don't be surprised if you find something horrifying, though."

Ryou was reaching toward the book and stopped when he heard that. "Horrifying?"

"Yeah," Marik said. "Some of the spells in the book are kind of disturbing. Not all of them or even most of them, but it seems like the book always opens to one of the worst. Or at least it has every time I've opened it."

"Oh." Ryou carefully undid the strap holding the book closed and opened the book to the first page. Or tried to, anyway. Somehow, when he looked down he found the book open to a page near the very back. The first thing he noticed was a drawing that looked a little like Frankenstein's monster, stitches covering every bend and joint on the grotesque body. "I can see what you mean."

The spirit leaned over the book, then scowled. _I can't read any of this._

_Huh?_ Ryou took a clear look at the words on the page, noticing for the first time that they looked a little strange. "These aren't normal hieroglyphs."

"No," Marik said. "It's another language I've never seen or heard any mention of outside of this book. This thing predates even ancient history – the language had already been forgotten by the Pharaoh's time. It took thousands of years for all the spells to be translated."

"Thousands of years..." Ryou repeated. "How did they translate it without anything written in that language to reference?"

"I have no idea how they did it at first," Marik said, holding his hands up. "The first several spells were translated in a totally random order, and the people who worked on translating them seem to have just sort of... spontaneously figured out what they said after staring at them long enough."

"That doesn't make any sense," Ryou said.

"Hey, don't look at me," Marik said. "This was way before anyone alive now was even born. After the some of the spells were translated, enough of the language was understood to start translating it normally. It only got easier over time."

_Ask him if he has a translation of the book, _the spirit said.

"Do you have a translation of the book?" Ryou asked. He didn't normally go along with what the spirit wanted so quickly, but the book was starting to give him the creeps. If a translation existed, he'd gladly look at that one instead.

"No," Marik said. "Once the whole thing was translated, it was decided that the spells were too dangerous to leave an easily readable copy around, so the translation and all the notes were destroyed. The ability to read the language itself was passed down in my family."

"So, what does this one say?" Ryou asked, looking down at the page.

"It says..." Marik paused, eyes skimming over the text. "It's a spell to give a spirit of the dead a living body."

"R-really?" Ryou asked, feeling distinctly unnerved that the book had opened to exactly what the spirit had asked him to look for. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"Well, in order to do it, you have to gather up nine people, _kill _them, then dismember their bodies and--"

"I get the point," Ryou said quickly. _I'm not doing that,_ Ryou thought at the spirit. _And if you try to make me, I'll just tell the others that you're still here._

_Don't worry, Landlord, I would like a somewhat better body than a spell like this could give me,_ the spirit said, sounding entirely serious.

Ryou was relieved to hear that. He hoped they wouldn't run into an equally horrifying spell that gave a better body.

"See?" Marik said. "Like I told you, it always seems to open to one of the worst ones."

"Can we look through it from the beginning?" Ryou asked.

"Yeah, but we'll have to a lot of page flipping," Marik replied. "If you try to go more than one page at a time, you'll never end up where you want to, even if that's just the front of the book. Believe me, I've tried."

"We'd have to flip through all that one page at a time?" Ryou asked, looking at the hundreds and hundreds of pages between the front of the book and the page they were on.

"Maybe not," Marik said, closing the book and opening it again. It landed on a page much closer to the front of the book. "I usually get this one."

Ryou looked the page the book had opened to. There was less writing than on the one he'd gotten, most of the page being dominated by the picture of a shadowy figure tying a ribbon around the neck of a confused looking man. "What does that spell do?"

"It binds people into trusting the caster, no matter what their normal feelings are," Marik replied, already flipping page after page to get to the front. "Here we are. The first spell in the book. 'To protect livestock from wild animals and thieves'..."

They went through the whole book one page at a time. Most of the time Marik just told him what the spell did in one sentence before they moved on, but occasionally they would talk about it more in depth and go over what went into it. The spirit listened intently, rarely speaking and never taking his eyes off the book itself. Ryou wondered at one point if he was attempting to decipher the language based on the translations Marik was giving them.

Only a few things really stood out in the massive list of spells. One was a spell 'to bind an in-between spirit to an earthly body through a conduit', listed between 'to keep vengeful spirits away from grave sites' and 'to create a stone amulet that reveals spirits to the wearer'. The spell took up three full pages, entirely text.

"What does that mean?" Ryou asked, wondering if the spirit counted as an 'in-between spirit', whatever that was.

"It means exactly what it sounds like – by in-between spirit, I mean a spirit that hasn't moved on to the afterlife, but can no longer interact with the living world. The conduit is a link to the living world – a person, in this case. And the spell creates a new body using..." Marik read through the requirements silently.

Ryou could only look at the incomprehensible writing on the page in complete ignorance. It seemed like the sort of thing the spirit wanted him to look for. He hoped the pages weren't full of instructions like: 'Gather up twenty people. The first must be killed using a particular kind of knife, while the second...'

It seemed like the book had a disturbing number of spells that began that way, mixed right in with the perfectly innocuous ones.

Ryou waited patiently until it looked like Marik was finished reading through the first page. "It looks like this one has a lot of ingredients."

"What?" Marik asked, glancing over the page again. "Oh, yeah, it would look like that. Actually, it just has very specific requirements for the spirit and the conduit."

"Requirements?" Ryou asked.

Marik read off the list. "The spirit can't have any link to the living world other than the conduit. The conduit must be a living human being with the ability to perform magic. The conduit can't be serving as a conduit for more than one spirit. The spirit and the conduit must have a sympathetic bond..."

"A sympathetic bond?" Ryou wasn't sure what exactly that entailed, but it didn't sound like something he had with the spirit.

"It basically means the spirit and the conduit have an emotional connection," Marik said. "A generally positive one. The spell won't work without it."

_I guess that spell won't be working any time soon, _Ryou thought. He _might_ be able to claim a positive connection to the spirit _some_ of the time these days, but he doubted the spirit would ever claim the reverse was true. Ryou snuck a glance at the spirit, but he was still looking at the book intently.

"How does it work?" Ryou asked.

"Well, it requires a kind of doll-like thing, called a..." Marik said a strange sounding word. "The conduit has to cut the left hand and cover the doll in blood..." Marik continued to describe the many other steps the ritual involved, then finished with: "And the doll should grow into a human body, which the spirit is then bound inside."

"It grows into a whole new body, just like that?" Ryou asked. It sounded too impressive to be true, no matter what he'd seen of magic before. Surely a human body had to be more difficult to create.

"Mostly, yeah..." Marik turned to the last page of the spell. "But the body is a sort of extension of the conduit. It will only last as long as the conduit lives."

Ryou didn't think the spirit would like that part, either. "What's the next spell?"

They went through dozens of other spells and were nearly at the end of the book when they hit a section with two pages missing, clearly having been torn out.

Ryou looked at Marik in confusion. "I thought you said the book was nearly indestructible."

"It is," Marik said, making Ryou wince when he casually demonstrated his point by taking the next page, 'to destroy cursed objects', and tugging on it _hard_. In any other book the page would have torn easily, but in this case absolutely nothing happened. "Those pages were missing before my family ever even had the book. Whoever did it must have really wanted those pages out."

Ryou looked at the torn edges that had remained in the book, which were completely blackened into a dark, coal-like color, as though the pages had been half-torn, half-_burned_ out of the book, and he had to agree.

They continued going through the spells on each page, until they got to one three pages from the back, 'to create a human-like golem out of clay'.

"What does 'human-like' mean?" Ryou asked, thinking it could be anything from 'has two legs and walks upright' to 'is actually indistinguishable from a normal human being', though the picture on the page did look like a person.

"It means it looks and feels like a normal human being, though it will only last for a year in this case," Marik said. "This spell is different from the other golem ones. It only creates the body."

"What does it need?" Ryou asked.

"Let's see," Marik said, skimming over the page. "Clay from each side of the Half-Sun Valley... I have no idea what place that refers to. A cloth of linen. A large, flat stone. A small amount of blood and hair from a human being. Golden tools for sculpting the features..." The list went on, full of difficult or impossible-to-obtain items.

_This spell is promising,_ the spirit said, speaking for the first time in well over an hour. _Ask him more about it._

_Promising? _Ryou thought. _I wouldn't know how to get half those things. I'm not even sure what some of them **are**._

_Don't worry about that right now._

"How do you make the golem?" Ryou asked. The ingredients list might be impossible, but at least there wasn't anything truly horrible on it, like many of the other spells.

"First you take the clay from the dark side of the valley and form it into a basic human shape on top of the stone," Marik said. "Then you layer the clay from the light side on top of it, and carve it into the appearance you want." Marik made a face. "Ugh. It comes out exactly as you form it. Imagine making some tiny mistake and having a piece of flesh hanging off at a weird angle."

Ryou imagined exactly that. "Ick," he said, feeling repulsed by the image in his head. Worse than that, it made the whole thing seem even more undoable. He'd painted figurines before, but he'd never really sculpted anything, especially not clay. He doubted he could make anything approaching a real likeness of a human being, let alone one so accurate that it could be made flesh without looking disgusting. He didn't know what he'd do if the spirit wanted him to go through with it. "What happens after that?"

"Then you have to take it outside, into the morning sun, and cover it with the linen cloth. The whole thing has to happen inside a circle of..." Marik described the rest of the ritual.

"That's a very complicated spell," Ryou said after he'd finished.

"Yeah," Marik agreed. "Good thing neither of us needs to make a golem."

"Right," Ryou said, trying not to sound like he was obviously lying. "What are the last two spells?"

"'To ensure the loyalty of servants' and..." Marik turned to the very last page. "'To instill disloyalty in an enemy's servants'. Apparently that's not very difficult," he added, pointing to the short paragraph written on the page. He closed the book and stretched. "So. What did you think?"

"It's not what I was expecting," Ryou said. "But it was still really interesting."

"Well, if you ever need to keep a vengeful spirit from destroying your grain crop, let me know," Marik said. "I'll let you look at the book as much as you like."

Ryou snickered. "Thanks."

Marik yawned, then looked at the clock. "It's getting late," he said. "Ishizu will be back soon. You can stay for dinner if you want."

Ryou smiled. "Okay."

They talked a little while longer until Ishizu came home, and then helped her make dinner. It felt a little strange, since he hadn't been part of any kind of family dinner like this for years. Possibly a decade, though his father had tried a little more back then, even after his mother and sister had died. For a moment Ryou envied Marik, even knowing all the other terrible things Marik had endured because of his family. But after that brief moment, Ryou got drawn into the conversation and was enjoying himself too much to envy anyone.

He stayed immersed in the discussion for most of the meal, attention only rarely drawn away from Marik and Ishizu over to the spirit, who seemed deep in thought. Ryou wondered what the spirit would inevitably ask him to do next and whether he should go along with it, assuming it wasn't harmful. But he didn't think about it for too long; a once-in-a-decade experience shouldn't be wasted, after all.


	17. Unexpected Encounters

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 16)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou walked out of the last art supply store in Domino City lugging a large, heavy bag full of modeling clay. He'd been to three others before this, each time asking about clay from 'the Half-Sun Valley', but no one seemed to have any idea what he was talking about. In the end the spirit had just told him to buy several packs of the basic clay to practice on.

_But if we can't get the real clay, isn't this all pointless anyway?_ Ryou thought, dragging the bag behind him as he walked down the street.

_You'll get the real clay,_ the spirit said. _I don't care if you have to go all the way to Egypt and dig it out of the ground yourself._

_We don't even know where this place is, _Ryou protested. They'd looked at a map of Egypt as soon as Ryou had gotten home the day before, but the spirit hadn't been able to point to the location, despite claiming to know what valley the instructions were referring to.

_Of course I wasn't able to find it on a map,_ the spirit said, as though it meant nothing. _I couldn't tell you where anything is on that map. The borders are all wrong, there are all these **new** places I've never heard of, and they don't give any useful points of reference. If we were actually in Egypt, I could point you there in a heartbeat._

_How do you know the route you'd want to take even exists anymore? _Ryou asked, not expecting an answer. _Anyway, I still have to find golden sculpting tools and get the money to buy them..._

The spirit made a noise. _Really, we'll be done with this much faster if you don't insist on __**buying**__ everything we need._

_Yes, because the police will come and arrest me, _Ryou replied, turning down an alleyway in the hopes of a shortcut. _After we have the tools, we still need several plants that might be extinct, along with a type of paint that hasn't been made in thousands of years._ Ryou made another turn and sighed when he found himself in a dead end. He turned around and nearly shouted when he found himself face-to-face with a strange man. "Ah! S-sorry. I almost ran into you," he said, wishing the spirit had said something about someone walking so close to him.

The spirit appeared next to him, eying the man suspiciously. _If I'd noticed him, I would have,_ he said. _Stay away from him._

_Do you know him? _Ryou asked, backing away from the man obediently. He was certainly strangely dressed, wearing long white robes and a turban, with an ankh hanging around his neck.

_That's not just an ankh, you fool, it's the Millennium Key._

_The Millennium Key?_ Ryou asked, backing away even more quickly until he hit the wall behind him. He didn't know anything about the person who had the Millennium Key, but based on the other items alone there was at least a 50-50 chance of the person being possessed by some kind of spirit. For all Ryou knew, he was the one who'd tried to break into his apartment.

"Ryou Bakura," the man said.

_How does he know my name?_ Ryou wondered. "Hi? I'm sorry, I don't know your name." _Or who you are, or... anything about you, really._

"You can call me Shadi," the man said. "I look after the Millennium Items."

"Look after?" Ryou asked. It wasn't that he doubted the man, exactly, but if he really was looking after the Millennium Items, it didn't seem like he was doing a very good job. "I don't have the Millennium Ring anymore."

"I know that," Shadi said. "I sensed when you gave it up."

"Oh," Ryou said intelligently. He'd really been hoping the man would just leave him alone after he said that.

The spirit circled the man, then reached one hand carelessly toward the ankh-- no, key. Shadi caught it before it ever touched the surface, looking the spirit right in the eyes. "Don't think I can't see you, thief."

The spirit disappeared immediately, reappearing at Ryou's side, arms crossed.

Ryou felt a jolt of surprise. "Y-you can see him?" he asked, not really sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. The man didn't seem to care one way or the other.

"Yes," Shadi said, apparently not feeling he required any more explanation than that.

This was starting to feel like trying to get information out of the spirit. "So. Um. Why are you here?" he asked.

"I recently sensed an attempted theft of a Millennium Item," Shadi replied. "So I came here to check on it. Yesterday, I sensed several Millennium Items being stolen, including the Millennium Ring."

"Several? Stolen?" Ryou repeated. The words finally clicked in his head. He dropped the heavy bag he was holding and tried to run past Shadi. "Yugi's the one with all the items. If they've been stolen--" Images of the burglar who had tried to break into his apartment rampaging through the game shop filled his head.

Shadi caught Ryou before he could get by. "There's nothing you can do to help him right now," he said.

Ryou tried to pull away and couldn't. "But--"

"If it happened yesterday, the damage has already been done," the spirit said from behind him. "Let him say whatever it is he intends to say."

Ryou relaxed. "Fine."

Shadi let him go, then pulled a scale out of his robes. He walked over to the spirit and held it right in front of him. The spirit looked on impassively as the scale tilted. Shadi pulled the scale back. "You have a darkness in your heart."

The spirit rolled his eyes. "Do I? I would never have guessed."

"It's far less than what it once was," Shadi said. He held the scale in front of the spirit again, a little further away this time. "Have you given up on your alliance with the Dark One?"

The spirit glared at him, looking as though he didn't feel like answering. "Yes," he said eventually.

Ryou wished he knew what they were talking about, though it didn't exactly surprise him to hear that the spirit had at some point been allied with someone called 'the Dark One'.

The scale remained level. Shadi nodded, as though he'd been expecting that, then turned to Ryou, holding the scale right up to his chest. It tilted ever so slightly. "You have a small amount of darkness in your heart."

Ryou's heart sank a little as he thought of all the things that he'd done that might reflect that – mostly lies he'd told.

_Oh, please. The idea of using one of these items to judge the **purity** of one's heart is laughable. _

Shadi looked at the spirit with interest. "It's very kind of you to reassure him, even if it isn't true."

The spirit scowled, whether at the suggestion that he was being kind or at the statement being made about the items Ryou wasn't sure. _Wait a minute... He didn't say that to me out loud,_ Ryou thought, starting to feel a little paranoid. Did the man know what he was thinking, too?

If he did, he didn't feel any need to mention it. He looked back and forth between Ryou and the spirit, as though not entirely satisfied with what he saw, but thinking he would have to make do. "You still have a ways to go. We'll see each other again," he said, making as though to leave.

"Wait," Ryou said. "Are you going to tell anyone about the spirit?"

Shadi looked him in the eyes. "No. Continue as you were." And with that, he walked past Ryou toward the wall.

Ryou turned around, but the man was already gone. _Huh?_

_Don't worry about it, Landlord,_ the spirit said. _Take the bag so we can get going already. This is time you could be using to practice sculpting my likeness._

_Okay, okay,_ Ryou thought, picking up the bag. _But once we get home, I'm calling Yugi before anything else._

Or maybe that wouldn't be necessary, Ryou thought as he ran into Yugi on the way out of the alleyway. "Oh. Hi. I was just going to call you," Ryou said, looking him over.

Yugi certainly didn't look like he'd had any kind of run in with a shadow-magic-wielding maniac. If anything, he looked perkier than he had in a long time. He was holding a map up in front of him, which he crumpled up into an odd shape and shoved in his bag when he saw Ryou. "Hey! What were you going to call me about?"

Ryou hadn't given any thought about what he should say. He didn't want to reveal the conversation he'd just had with the man named Shadi, mostly because it had involved the spirit, but also because it just didn't feel like the man had wanted him to talk about it, even if he hadn't said so explicitly. "I was just a little worried about the Millennium Ring," he said, making something up as he went along. "I had a bad dream about it. Are the Millennium Items still safe?"

"Of course," Yugi said, eyes wide. He held up the puzzle hanging around his neck. "See?"

Ryou started to wonder if the strange man had just been making everything up.

_He was not making up his ability to sense what happens to the items, _the spirit said. _But that doesn't mean he wasn't lying about them being stolen._

"That's a relief," Ryou said. "But are you sure about the other items? When's the last time you checked them?"

"Um..." Yugi looked thoughtful. "A few days ago, I guess."

"Can you check again?" Ryou asked. "I-if it's not too much of a bother, I mean."

Yugi started to move toward the alleyway. "Maybe a little later..." he said.

"There's nothing down there but a dead end," Ryou said. "I was just there."

"Really?" Yugi asked, rooting around in his bag for the map and partially unfolding it before taking it out. He smoothed it out and glanced over it as though confused. "Huh. You're right. I guess I got a little lost," he said, though Ryou could have sworn he was looking at the wrong area of the map for that part of town.

"Are you trying to get somewhere?" Ryou asked, wondering if he could help.

"Nowhere important," Yugi said, shoving the map back in his bag.

"S-so. Can we go check on the items?" Ryou asked. "I don't mean to impose, but I'm kind of worried about them," he added, hoping he didn't sound suspicious.

_**You** really aren't the suspicious one right now, Landlord._

"Sure," Yugi said. "Let's go."

The two walked in the direction of the game shop. "What does the Pharaoh have to say about the items?" Ryou asked, thinking that the Pharaoh would be the first person to be concerned about them, no matter how trivial the threat. If nothing else, Ryou thought the Pharaoh would be suspecting _him_ of asking about the items as part of some kind of plot.

Yugi looked blank for a second. "Oh. Um. He says you're overreacting to your dream."

"I hope he's right," Ryou said.

The two walked the rest of the way to the game shop quietly. When they got inside, Yugi brought Ryou through the door at the back. "Wait here," he said, leaving Ryou in the living room as he went to his bedroom.

_Do you think the items are safe?_ Ryou asked the spirit, who was sitting on the couch not looking particularly concerned. The spirit's change in attitude toward the items still seemed odd to Ryou.

_No,_ the spirit replied. _But I do believe that they're still here._

_So you do think he was lying?_ Ryou asked.

The spirit pointed at Yugi, who had just walked out of his bedroom door carrying the ring, the necklace, and the rod in his arms, puzzle hanging around his neck as always. _It would appear so._

"See? All the items are fine," Yugi said, putting them down on the coffee table. "There's nothing to worry about."

Ryou looked at the items without touching them. "You're sure they're the real items?" he asked, wondering if someone could have come in and replaced the real items with fakes to avoid being detected. It did seem kind of far-fetched, though.

"Um. Pretty sure?" Yugi picked up the Millennium Ring and held it out to him. "You had the ring for years. Does it seem like the real thing?"

Ryou didn't take the ring; he and Marik may not have been able to verify their theory about how the items were made, but the idea was more than enough to put him off touching any of them. It also didn't help that a giant, monstrous entity had come out of the Millennium Ring the last time he'd held it. He looked it over as best as he could without touching it. "It looks like it. I guess I'm just getting worried over nothing," he said. "I'm sorry I wasted your time."

"That's okay," Yugi said. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Yeah," Ryou replied, nervously fiddling with the bag still in his hand.

"So, what's in the bag?" Yugi asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh. This," Ryou said, panicking inside for a moment before remembering that there wasn't actually anything inherently suspicious about a bag full of modeling clay. "It's just some art supplies."

"Taking up a new hobby?" Yugi asked.

"I guess," Ryou said, thinking that it wouldn't hurt to have his friends believe it _was_ a new hobby. Trying to hide it completely would only make him look strange. "I should really get going," he added, wanting to get the heavy bag home, even if it meant spending the rest of the afternoon trying to make a perfect replica of the spirit's face.

"See you later," Yugi said. He led Ryou out to the shop, then waved goodbye.

* * *

"My face looks nothing like this, Landlord," the spirit said, eying Ryou's clay creation disdainfully.

"I know that," Ryou said. He didn't need to look at the misshapen figure to know how wrong it was. The model head had two eyes, a nose, two ears, and a mouth, but that was where the resemblance ended. He'd tried to make it look realistic, but the small model people he'd used to enjoy making had been cartoonish, and it showed here. "I've never done this before."

Ryou looked at the spirit's face again, then started trying to fix the jaw. He got it as close as he could manage with his level of skill, but it still seemed wrong when he looked at it.

The spirit looked at the clay model again and made a frustrated noise. "That's still wrong," he said, getting off the couch and sitting right next to Ryou on the floor. He grabbed Ryou's wrist and tugged on it. Ryou relaxed his arm, allowing the spirit to pull it where he wanted to. The spirit brought Ryou's hand up to his face, pressing it against his jaw, then let go.

Ryou, now understanding what the spirit intended, brought his other hand up and felt the shape of the spirit's jaw. His hands were spattered with bits of modeling clay, but none of rubbed off on the spirit's skin. He inspected the spirit's face closely, accidentally meeting the spirit's eyes for a moment before quickly looking away.

It felt... odd, touching the spirit like that. Ryou was having trouble concentrating on what he was supposed to be doing, finding himself wanting to explore other areas with his hands. He turned pink and pulled his hands away from the spirit's face when he remembered that the spirit would know what he was thinking. Then he realized that he _would_ have to explore other areas if he wanted to make a full model of the spirit's body and turned bright red, since that would include...

The spirit laughed at his discomfort. "Yes, it would include _there_. But then, it's not as though you've never thought about touching me before. And really, a few days ago you were begging me to touch _you_."

Ryou covered his face with his hands, wondering why the spirit had to bring _that_ up now. "That was only because you were driving me insane. And neither of those things are the same as..." Ryou trailed off, unable to articulate the difference. The scenario started to play itself out in his head. The spirit would have to be naked, due to where Ryou would need to see and touch him, and that meant Ryou also had to be naked... Ryou envisioned himself actually touching the spirit, and the scene started to go a little off track as his fantasy spirit responded to the caress...

"I'm afraid it's not possible for me to react that way in this form," the spirit said, sounding neutral about the fact.

Ryou tried to pretend he wasn't disappointed to hear that. He'd kind of known it already, and anyway, he had no reason to want the spirit to react that way. Really.

"If you change your mind, you're free to see how I react once I get my new body," the spirit said.

"What?" Ryou dropped his hands from his face and found the spirit leering at him. He promptly looked away. "I don't want to do that," he said, starting to work on the clay again as a distraction. The spirit's gaze combined with the vague promise he'd just gotten were having an uncomfortable effect on him. He didn't want to think about the spirit being near him with a real body. A real, _naked_ body. A real, naked, _responsive_ body that he could touch. Or maybe kiss...

The idea wasn't the least bit appealing. Whatever Ryou's own body seemed to think about it.

Ryou mashed the clay with his hands, not even really noticing what he was doing anymore.

"If you really want to make one of those, you should choose a sturdier material," the spirit said, amusement clear in his tone. "You also might want to go for something a bit smaller."

Ryou looked down at the form he'd molded the clay into and immediately dropped it on the table, face burning. He coughed a little before picking it up again and quickly smashing it into a simple ball. "I wasn't trying to make anything," he said, putting the clay back in its bag before he could start fashioning it into another suggestive form.

"Heh. You know, the tomb keeper might actually have a point about this whole 'repression' thing..."

"I am not repressed," Ryou said adamantly, trying unsuccessfully to force away his unwanted thoughts. _Okay, so maybe I am a little. How can I not be when he knows everything I think or feel or want?_ Ryou wished his body would calm down.

"I could help you with that," the spirit said, caressing Ryou's neck.

Ryou tried not to lean into the touch. "I don't..." He paused. He couldn't really say he didn't want it. Not honestly, anyway. It was more that he wanted it, but had so many reasons not to go along with it. This was the spirit, the one who had hurt him, hurt his friends, even if he'd been unable to do that lately. Even if he'd been almost... _nice_ to Ryou at times in the past few months. Ryou's feelings were so confused; in the past week alone, the spirit had spent the days attempting to torture his cooperation out of him and the nights cuddling him in his sleep.

Ryou didn't know how he was supposed to feel about this, but he was sure it wasn't the way he was actually feeling.

_I don't even know his name,_ Ryou thought, somewhat bothered by the realization. How could he do things like that with someone whose name he didn't even know? If nothing else, he wouldn't know what to call out when the spirit reduced him to a gibbering mess.

The spirit smirked at him. "You could always just call me 'God', like you have before now," he said.

"I wasn't calling you--" Ryou started to protest, then thought the better of it. "Seriously, what's your real name?" he asked. It felt strange that he'd never asked before that moment, but he'd never wanted to know before then. He'd only wished that people would stop calling the spirit by _his_ name.

"I don't have a name," the spirit said, frowning.

Ryou stared at him. "You can't just not have a name."

The spirit shrugged. "Names aren't important."

Ryou thought of the way the spirit refused to use other people's names and wondered if he'd always thought that way. Surely his parents had called him _something_.

The spirit scowled at him. "My family is none of your business, so stop thinking about it _right now_."

Ryou squashed his curiosity about the spirit's family; it really wasn't his business if the spirit didn't want to talk about it. "But I have to call you something. 'Spirit' just isn't a good name."

"Then call me 'Thief King'," the spirit said, sounding proud of his title.

Ryou imagined himself calling out 'Oh, Thief King!' in the middle of certain _activities_ and snickered. It was like something out of a bad romance novel.

"Plenty of people have been satisfied calling out that name," the spirit said indignantly. He took a step toward Ryou, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you wouldn't be any different."

Ryou bit his lip. The idea was tempting, but... he really wanted something less _intense_ right about now. The past week had been overwhelming, to say the least.

The spirit looked his face over, seeming to think about something. "Fine," he said, after a few moments had passed. "Sit down on the couch."

"Why?" Ryou asked, always suspicious of anything the spirit asked him to do without giving an explanation.

"Just do it," the spirit said impatiently.

Ryou cautiously did as he was told, curious about what the spirit intended to do. He felt the spirit appear behind him and begin gently massaging his shoulders. He almost laughed, but he was afraid the spirit might stop if he did. He leaned back into the touch. It felt pleasurable, but it was a slow, gentle sort of pleasurable, not the overpowering, sharp-edged feeling he'd had the rest of the week.

"Lie down," the spirit told him, moving away for a moment so Ryou could lie down on his stomach. He sat on top of him and continued the massage. Ryou laid his head sideways on top of his arms, catching a glimpse of the spirit's intent, focused expression out of the corner of one eye. It put a small smile on his face, though he didn't really know why.

Ryou continued to relax as the spirit kneaded his muscles, eventually falling into a sort of sensual haze. He worked up the strength to roll himself over and pull the spirit down into a kiss. He was content to let the spirit lead from there.

Ryou had one final, fuzzy thought before completely surrendering to the experience – if it was going to be like this all the time, he might take the spirit up on his offer more often.


	18. A Repeat Offense

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 17)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.  
**A/N**: Yup, another two chapter weekend, woo!

* * *

Ryou had enjoyed the past few weeks far more than he could have anticipated. He'd made a deal with the spirit that he would work on his sculpting abilities for at least an hour everyday, as long as the spirit didn't bother him about it the rest of the time. He'd fallen into a routine of doing whatever he needed or wanted to do during the day and then coming home in the evening to make another attempt at replicating the spirit's appearance in clay.

And then claiming his reward, of course. A simple massage after some hard work. That's all it was. And if that massage sometimes... or usually... or even _always_ seemed to end with Ryou frantically pulling the spirit in for a kiss, well, that just couldn't be helped, and neither could anything the spirit happened to do to him after that.

The spirit, for his part, seemed to enjoy the experience more than Ryou would have expected, given that he couldn't get anything physical out of their daily... massage. Ryou didn't really know why, but it seemed like the spirit got some kind of charge out of how Ryou responded to him. So much so that Ryou often thought he was on some sort of power trip.

Like the time he'd threatened to stop at the worst possible moment if Ryou didn't cry out 'Oh, Thief King!' at the top of his lungs – or as it had actually come out, 'Ah, Th-thief King, oh god, p-please don't stop, please--'

Ryou was still embarrassed about that one, partially due to the strange looks he'd been getting from the other tenants since then. At least his landlord had gotten someone in to cut the pole off his door – he really didn't need to look any weirder than he already did.

_Though, that might not be so easy to avoid,_ Ryou thought, seeing police cars outside his apartment building for the second time in as many months. He felt a strange sense of deja vu, though this evening he'd been coming back from eating dinner at Marik's house instead of the museum. _What do you think hap--_ Ryou stopped, looking around and not seeing the spirit anywhere.

_Just get over here, _the spirit said from somewhere in the distance. He sounded angry.

Ryou approached the building, feeling unnerved by the spirit's reaction. An area on the side of the building was taped off, though Ryou couldn't see why from his angle. There were officers milling around out front, one of them standing off to the side talking to the old lady who lived on the first floor. Ryou saw Detective Lawson near the front door and walked over to him, hoping for an explanation.

The detective focused in on him immediately. "Mr. Bakura. I've been wanting to talk to you."

That didn't sound good, even if it was to be expected. "Did someone try to break in again?"

"I'm afraid someone _succeeded_ in breaking in this time," the detective told him. "We're going to need you to tell us what's missing. You'll also be wanting to stay with someone else tonight, possibly longer," he added, tone saying he didn't want any argument about this.

Ryou couldn't go along with that. "But if the burglar's already gone--"

The detective interrupted him. "I think you should wait until you've seen the damage before making a decision about this," he said, as though certain Ryou would agree with him afterward.

"O-okay," Ryou said, starting to feel anxious about whatever it was he was about to see.

"Follow me," the detective said, leading him over to the taped off side of the building.

Ryou walked along after him, scanning the area to figure out what had happened. His eyes focused on the fire escape, where the ladder had been pulled, no... _melted_ down to the ground until it was barely recognizable as a ladder. Ryou looked up at the top of the ladder, but his view was blocked by the rest of the fire escape and a small black cloud of... dust? Smoke? Ryou couldn't really tell, but it didn't look good. "S-so, they did that to the ladder, climbed up, and then... broke a window?" Ryou asked, guessing about that last part.

"Sort of," the detective replied. "Let's go inside." He led Ryou up to the second floor, walking in through the open door. "We got in through the other side," he explained.

Ryou followed him inside. He'd prepared himself to see a broken window on the other side of the living room, so it took his brain several seconds to notice the _gigantic gaping hole_ in the wall. He stared, open-mouthed at the place where the person had blasted through the wall, breath caught in his throat.

_Breathe, Landlord, _the spirit said, appearing next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. _It would be very inconvenient if you passed out now._ He disappeared again when Ryou exhaled.

The detective seemed a little concerned. "You okay, kid?"

"Y-yeah," Ryou said, voice barely audible. "Yeah," he repeated, louder this time. "It's just... a little worse than I was expecting," he added, finally starting to process the rest of the scene. Bits of melted glass and charred brick and plaster littered the floor around the hole. The other windows along the wall sat shattered in their frames, as though hit by a shockwave.

Ryou took a moment to wonder why the glass hadn't fallen out after it shattered, but his eyes were quickly drawn to the smoldering remains of what had once been his couch. Foam and fabric were scattered all over the floor, as though whoever it was had tried ripping into it before finally burning it to a pile of ashes. The burnt remains had been kicked around a bit, as though the burglar had been determined to smash the piece of furniture to bits.

Ryou looked around, wondering what else had been destroyed, but aside from the wall and the couch, it seemed like the burglar had left the rest of the room pretty much alone. The TV was sitting on the coffee table, surprisingly unscathed. The other furniture was also intact. Ryou glanced through the doorway into the kitchen, but it didn't look like anyone had been in there. "Did... did the person do anything else?"

The detective shook his head. "Nothing like this. As far as we can tell, he never even went beyond this room. It doesn't even look like anything was taken, but you'll have to look around and tell us for certain."

Ryou felt bewildered. "So he just... broke into my apartment, destroyed my couch, and then left?"

"So it seems," the detective said, sounding almost as confused as Ryou was. "Was there anything special about that couch? Did you get it recently, or did it maybe belong to someone else before you got it?" he asked, taking out his notepad and pen.

Ryou shook his head. "It was just a normal couch. My father bought it new several years ago."

"You said last time that you don't have any enemies," the detective said, looking him over. "Are still sure about that? Is there anyone who might want to send you a message?"

Ryou wracked his brain, trying to figure out if he'd forgotten anyone. The whole thing did feel too specific to be a normal burglary – even if that maniac still thought he had the Millennium Ring, wouldn't he have destroyed the _whole_ apartment looking for it, instead of just his couch? He shook his head again. "No, there isn't anyone. Especially not anyone who could do all _this,_" he said, still marveling at the wall.

The detective looked at the hole again. "We think the perpetrator may have used a bomb," he said, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. "Do you know anyone who's interested in things like that? Fire, explosions..."

"No," Ryou said. "Wouldn't a bomb have done a lot more damage than this?"

"I don't know," the detective replied. "That's something I'll leave to the bomb squad. They already checked the place over, since we feared the guy might have left something behind, but they haven't found anything, including evidence of the type of explosives used."

"It's sounds like he'll be difficult to find," Ryou said, thinking that was probably a good thing. The police wouldn't be a match for someone with the ability to use shadow magic.

"Yeah," the detective said, glaring at the hole for a second before looking at Ryou again. "And we have a witness, too."

"A witness?" Ryou asked, taken completely by surprise. The spirit appeared next to him again, apparently just as interested in this as he was. "Shouldn't it be easy, then?"

"Well, it's not quite that simple," the detective replied, flipping through his notes. "The witness is Mrs. Lenz, who saw the guy through her window and called us. She's still shaken up by the whole thing. We've haven't really been able to get a coherent statement out of her."

"Did she see his face?" Ryou asked. He'd seen her outside, so he already knew she was alright.

"Yeah, that's where the problem comes in," the detective said. "According to her, your apartment was broken into by some kind of _literal_ monster, who was, and I quote, 'wearing darkness itself'."

That sounded about right for someone involved with the Millennium Items, however skeptical the detective was about the elderly lady's report of what she saw. "Did she see anything else?"

"That's it," the detective said. "She was frightened and went to call us as soon as she saw him, so there wasn't much else for her to see." The detective closed his notepad. "If you could take a quick look around and tell me if anything looks out of place – other than the obvious – that would be very helpful."

"Of course," Ryou said, taking a quick look in the kitchen before walking around the rest of the apartment.

The spirit trailed after him. _Nothing of yours is gone,_ he said.

_Nothing of **mine** is gone?_ Ryou asked suspiciously, continuing to survey the apartment. Even if the spirit was right, he didn't want the detective to think he wasn't looking hard enough. _Does that mean something of **yours** is gone?_

The spirit disappeared, refusing to answer him.

Ryou finished looking through the apartment and returned to the living room. "Everything else seems normal," he said.

The detective didn't seem that surprised. "If you think of anything else, let me know. Right now, though, you should be calling someone about a place to stay."

"Right," Ryou agreed reluctantly. His reasons for not wanting to stay at someone else's place paled in comparison to the giant hole in his wall at the moment. He couldn't very well sleep there now. "I'll just go do that."

He called Marik from the kitchen, not wanting to do it in front of the detective. He gave a brief explanation of the situation, saying his apartment had been broken into, and Marik said he would be right over to get him, not even bothering to ask if he was staying over. Ryou had tried to talk him out of it, saying that he could get there just fine on his own, but Marik had insisted, as though he thought Ryou might be attacked en route to his apartment. Ryou had finally given in, since it sounded like Marik was coming to get him no matter what he said.

Ryou wandered back out to the living room afterward.

"Did you find somewhere to stay?" the detective asked.

"Yeah," Ryou said. "Um. I have to go pack."

He went to his room, gathered up all his school things, and put them in his book bag, slinging it over one shoulder. He started picking some clothes to take with him, then stopped, unsure how long he was going to be staying with Marik. On the one hand, Marik hadn't specified any particular length of time. What if he only meant for Ryou to stay one night?

On the other hand, Marik had sounded like he never intended to let Ryou out of his sight ever again, which implied a longer stay. The hole in his wall certainly wouldn't be repaired by the next day, and it might well take a lot longer than that. He fretted over this decision for a while before choosing to pack at least enough for at least a full week. Even if he could only stay at Marik's for the night, he'd still have to go somewhere else after that. He gathered his clothes, his toothbrush, and other miscellaneous things he thought he might need, and shoved them in another bag, slinging it over his other shoulder. He hoped he hadn't forgotten anything.

_Don't forget about the clay,_ the spirit said.

The clay was currently out in the living room, but Ryou had no intention of taking it with him. _I can't practice at Marik's place,_ he thought. _He'll think I've lost my mind if he sees me making a sculpture of you. _His models of the spirit's face still had a ways to go, but at this point what he was aiming for would be more than recognizable.

He carried his bags out to the living room, where he found Marik talking with the detective.

"...no, I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt him," Marik was saying. He noticed Ryou. "Hi," he said, glancing from Ryou to the hole in the wall.

Ryou looked away. He'd told Marik about the break-in, but he'd been a little vague about the extent of the damage. "Hi. Um. Thanks for coming. That was really fast."

"Ishizu drove me," Marik said.

"She didn't have to go to all that trouble," Ryou said, feeling uncomfortable.

"You do realize there's a massive hole in the wall, right?" Marik asked, as though not entirely sure Ryou _did_ realize it.

"That's why I called you," Ryou replied.

Marik stared at him. "But you didn't think it was worth even a _little_ mention when we were talking on the phone?"

"I was going to tell you about that part later," Ryou insisted. "There's no reason to worry about it right now."

Marik shook his head, taking Ryou's bag of clothes from him. "You know, you're my friend and all, but there are times when you have _absolutely no sense_." He gave Ryou's shoulder a light shove, then looked around. "Is there anything else you want to bring? You'll be staying for a while." His tone brooked no argument.

_The clay, Landlord,_ the spirit said, standing over the bag of sculpting supplies and waving his arms to draw Ryou's attention.

Marik noticed where he was looking and picked up the bag of clay, seeming surprised at the weight. "Good thing we brought the car, then."

"I don't need to bring that," Ryou said. "It'll make a mess."

"Don't worry about that," Marik said. He turned to the detective, who was talking to someone on the fire escape. "I'm taking him away now," he said.

Ryou would have expected the detective to be a little more put off by the way Marik had phrased that, but he only nodded at Marik and waved them away. "Keep him out of trouble."

_H-hey. I don't need to kept out of trouble,_ Ryou thought indignantly, following Marik down the stairs and out of his apartment.

_Actually, I seem to remember having to get you out of trouble all the time,_ the spirit said, already waiting at the car.

_That was often trouble you got me into in the first place. _Ryou gave his school bag to Marik, who put everything in the trunk, then both of them got in the back seat.

_Yes, but only **often**. You attracted plenty of trouble just by walking around on your own._

Ryou remembered the many, many bullies that had seemed to plague him before (and partly after) he'd come to Domino High and had to concede the point. He looked at Ishizu sitting in the driver's seat. "Hi. Thank you for coming to get me."

"It's no trouble," Ishizu said. "And you're always welcome in our home." She started the car and drove it down the street.

"Thanks," Ryou repeated, feeling genuinely grateful that he _was_ welcome somewhere. He looked out the window of the car and noticed they were taking a strange route. "Aren't we going to your apartment?"

"Yeah," Marik replied. "But I want to stop by the game shop first."

"Isn't it a little late?" Ryou asked.

"Yugi and the Pharaoh should know about this," Marik said.

They parked in front of the game shop, already closed for the night. Marik got out of the car first, Ryou following after him. Ishizu seemed content to wait in the car, picking up a book to read.

Marik knocked on the door, which was promptly opened by Yugi's grandpa, holding a broom in his hand. "Ah, Yugi's friends. Come in. Maybe you can convince him to finally come out of his room today." He led them back behind the shop and then to Yugi's room. He knocked on the closed door. "Yugi! Your friends are here!" He smiled at Marik and Ryou and then went back out into the shop.

Strange noises came from inside Yugi's room, followed up by footsteps. Ryou heard the click of the lock, and the door opened. "Hi, guys. What's going on?"

Marik walked into the room and Ryou came in after him. "Well, it's like this..." Marik elaborated on what had happened, including details that told Ryou he'd been talking to the detective for longer than Ryou had realized.

"So there was just a hole, right there in the wall?" Yugi asked, wide-eyed. "And he burnt up your couch, but didn't take anything?"

"Yeah," Ryou said. "You should be careful. He might be coming after you next."

"You really think so?"

"You have most of the items," Marik pointed out.

"True... But I also have the Pharaoh to protect me and the items," Yugi said. "I think I'll be pretty safe here."

"Can we talk to the Pharaoh for a moment?" Marik asked.

"Um. Sure..." Yugi's face sharpened, transforming into the Pharaoh's.

"You don't need to worry about Yugi or the items. I will keep them safe," the Pharaoh declared, sounding utterly unconcerned.

Marik was looking at the Pharaoh strangely, though Ryou didn't know why. As far as he could tell, the Pharaoh was always that confident.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" the Pharaoh asked.

Marik opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, seeming to decide against it. After a few moments, he said: "I just want to make sure Yugi and his grandpa are safe. Maybe you should reconsider keeping the items here."

"Bakura no longer has the Millennium Ring, and that did not stop whoever is committing these crimes from targeting him," the Pharaoh said. "Keeping the items somewhere else would only divide my attention between two places."

"I guess you're right," Marik said. He turned to Ryou. "Let's go. We need to get you set up," he added, dragging Ryou out of the room without even saying goodbye.

"Um, I'll see you later--" Ryou called out as he was pulled from the room, surprised the abrupt end of the conversation. He followed Marik out of the shop. "W-what was that?" he asked, still confused about how things had gone.

Marik looked Ryou over, then shook his head. "It was nothing. It can wait for another day."

They got back in the car and rode to Marik's apartment.

* * *

Marik showed Ryou to the room he'd be sleeping in. It was relatively bare, but it did have a bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and a dresser with a mirror on it. "It was supposed to be Odion's eventually, but he keeps getting delayed. Feel free to put your stuff in the drawers," he said. "You can stay as long as you want."

Ryou put his bags on top of the dresser. "Thank you."

Marik made to leave the room, then stopped, turning back toward Ryou as though he'd remembered something. "Oh, right. Um. There's no lock on the door, but I won't ever come in without knocking. And neither will Ishizu. So you'll, uh, have your privacy. Whenever you need it."

Ryou tried not to blush, realizing what Marik was trying to tell him. It didn't help that the spirit was snickering from on the bed. "Th-thanks. I'll, um, keep that in mind," he forced himself to say, hoping to prevent Marik from going into some kind of speech about how he was free to _relax_ in his room as much as he wanted to.

It seemed to work, and Marik left the room after they said good night, closing the door behind him.

Ryou started unpacking his clothes, putting them away in the drawers. The events of the evening were still spinning around in his head. Who had broken into his apartment, and why? What did that person have against his couch? Why hadn't he taken anything?

He set his uniform out on the dresser. The spirit had implied that the burglar _had_ taken something of his. _What did the burglar take?_ Ryou asked him, turning toward the bed and starting to change into his pajamas.

The spirit crossed his arms. _What makes you so sure he took anything? Perhaps he was simply offended by your father's poor taste in furniture._

_How would he even **know** about..._ Ryou stopped there, realizing the spirit was only trying to distract him. He slid off his t-shirt and put on his pajama top, trying to think about what the burglar had actually done. Why would he... Ryou looked at the spirit. _What was hidden inside the couch?_

The spirit glared at him. _Why should I tell you?_

Ryou took off the rest of his clothes and slid into his pajama bottoms. _Do you have an actual reason **not** to tell me?_ Ryou tried, feeling he had legitimate cause to wonder. Sometimes the spirit seemed to keep secrets purely for the sake of keeping secrets.

The spirit turned up his chin, saying nothing for several moments before answering. _It was the Millennium Eye._

Ryou blinked in surprise, as much at having gotten real answer as what that answer turned out to be. He climbed onto the bed. _The Millennium... I thought Pegasus had the Millennium Eye._

_I took it from him,_ the spirit said.

Ryou tried not to think about what that would have entailed, feeling slightly sickened by the gory vision it brought to mind.

_There wasn't **that** much blood, Landlord. It's much less difficult to remove a false eye than you're imagining._

Ryou wasn't reassured. _So, who knew we had the Millennium Eye?_ he asked, feeling a little annoyed that he himself hadn't known the thing was hidden in his apartment.

_Pegasus, obviously._

Ryou tried to envision Pegasus putting a pole through a door or blasting his wall down and just couldn't. _Anyone else?_

_That fool with the Millennium Key may have known,_ the spirit said.

Ryou didn't know enough about Shadi to say whether he could or would do such a thing, but... _He warned me that someone had made an attempt to steal it, _Ryou realized, remembering their only conversation._ Why would he do that if he's the thief?_

_Perhaps he was trying to throw suspicion off himself._

_Maybe,_ Ryou agreed, but he wasn't really convinced. _Any other people who knew about it?_

_Not that I'm aware of, but Pegasus may have told someone else._

There was a thought. Ryou wondered if the burglar had gone after Pegasus first, learned what had happened to the eye, and then tracked him back to Domino. He sighed. That made the pool of possible suspects impossibly large. He turned off the lamp, deciding not to think about it anymore that night.

The spirit was already lying down on the bed. Ryou bit his lip. He wanted to sleep the way they normally did, but what if Marik or Ishizu came in and saw him floating over the bed?

_The tomb keeper already told you they wouldn't. Given what he thinks you might be doing in here, I believe he probably meant it, _the spirit said, clearly amused.

Ryou felt his face heat up, but he had to agree that it was probably true. He crawled on top of the spirit, pulling the covers over himself.

He felt strange trying to sleep in the unfamiliar bed, but the spirit's presence calmed him, making it easier to get comfortable. Soon all thoughts of the day left his mind, allowing him to drift off soon after.


	19. The Cat Runs Free Of The Bag

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 18)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou fumbled downward for a kiss, moaning into the spirit's mouth as he felt fingers tangle in his hair. He'd gotten so used to having this, having it whenever he wanted. He knew there was some reason he wasn't supposed to have it now, but whatever it was seemed so foggy and distant... Ryou moved his hips downward, needing the kind of physical contact he'd been denying himself for nearly a week now...

...the kind that he'd been denying himself because he was staying at Marik's apartment...

Ryou's eyes flew open. He stilled his body immediately, then pulled out of the kiss, breathing heavily. _W-we can't do this here. We're in someone else's house._

The spirit traced Ryou's lip with his thumb. _So what?_ _The tomb keeper already assumes you've been pleasing yourself in here. _The spirit dropped his other hand from Ryou's hair, running his fingers down Ryou's spine and letting his hand settle lower down.

Ryou's already flushed face turned even redder. _That just makes it worse!_ Part of Ryou wanted desperately to get away from the temptation right below him, but another part just wanted to give in and take what was being offered. The two parts warred inside him, leaving him unable to move away from the touch _or_ into it.

_I don't see how,_ the spirit said, using his lower hand to grind Ryou's body against his in a slow, steady rhythm.

_I-it j-just-- o-oh god-- _Ryou clung to the spirit's chest, lost in the pleasurable friction created by the spirit's movements. Soon Ryou had force himself to roll off the spirit before things went too far. He lay there on the bed on his back, panting, covers bunched up beside him.

The spirit sat up next to him, running his fingers over Ryou's stomach. _If you go out there like this, the tomb keeper will know what sort of state you're in. You may as well save him from having to give you another talk about 'repression'._

_It... it can't be that obvious, can it?_ Ryou sat up and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, then groaned. He'd never really understood what it meant to look 'thoroughly debauched' until now. There wasn't a person on the planet who wouldn't know what sort of thing he'd been up to a few moments ago, and that he was still...

_Exactly,_ the spirit replied, sounding quite pleased with his accomplishment.

Ryou dropped back down to the bed. _Sometimes I think you **want** everyone to know what you're doing to me,_ he thought, resting his head back on the pillow.

_Heh. I would, if it weren't so inconvenient to my plans,_ the spirit said, leaning down to suck on Ryou's neck.

_Huh? Why?_ Ryou asked, wondering if the spirit's exhibitionist tendencies were even stronger than he'd realized. He hugged his arms around the spirit's back, instinctively pulling him closer.

_Because otherwise it's like stealing something valuable and not even having anyone notice it's missing, _the spirit replied, tracing Ryou's jaw with his thumb.

_V-valuable?_ Ryou repeated, shying away from the confusing mixture of feelings the word sparked inside him. _Th-that doesn't make any sense. You're more likely to get away with it if no one notices._

_You're missing half the point of stealing, Landlord,_ the spirit said. _But really, even if the tomb keeper did come into the room, it's not as though he could see me._ The spirit lifted his head. "Or hear me, for that matter," he said, continuing out loud instead of over their mental link. He rested one hand on Ryou's stomach, only a slight movement away from where Ryou really needed it.

_Don't talk out loud,_ he thought frantically. Even if he was the only one who could hear it, it still felt more public to have the spirit speaking that way, which only intensified his awareness of where they were.

"Why shouldn't I?" the spirit asked, caressing Ryou's stomach right through the waistband of his pajamas.

Ryou grabbed the spirit's hand, intending to pull it away, but lacking the willpower to go through with it. _J-just because,_ Ryou said. The spirit's teasing was starting to get to him; his resolve was wavering. His concern about where they were was transforming into something slightly perverse – he realized to his horror that the possibility of someone walking in on him like this excited him as much as it disturbed him.

Ryou obsessed over the realization, not noticing that he was allowing the spirit's hand to drift lower and lower...

"Heh. It's really a little unfair, isn't it?" the spirit asked, seizing the opportunity to free his hand and press _down_. Ryou gasped as the spirit rubbed him firmly, hand moving back and forth, back and forth... "Even if the tomb keeper came in this very instant, he'd only see _you_ here, writhing helplessly on the bed..."

Ryou squirmed helplessly under the spirit's hand, trying desperately to focus on the physical sensations and not on how the words were making him feel.

"What do you imagine he'd think, seeing you like this?" the spirit asked, face directly over Ryou's.

Ryou made a strangled sound, grabbing the spirit and pulling him down for a kiss. His whole body was trembling, he was so close, so very close, he was about to--

The door flew open, revealing a somewhat panicked-looking Marik.

Horror and excitement thrilled through Ryou simultaneously, and he choked, mouth half-open in surprise. He let go of the spirit, instinctively burying his fingers and toes in the sheets, feeling like he was trying to cling to the edge of a cliff after being thrown clear over the top. His head flew back as his body shuddered, and for one long moment Ryou felt as though the intense shock of pleasure would never end.

But it soon did. All the tension left Ryou's body, leaving him collapsed on the bed. He and Marik stared at each other for a few seconds, eyes wide, before Ryou frantically yanked the covers back over himself, curling up in a ball beneath them. If Marik couldn't see him, he wouldn't know he was there. That was how it worked, right?

"Um, Bakura," Marik said, sounding embarrassed. Ryou felt a weight settle next to him on the bed. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Y-you said you wouldn't come in without knocking," Ryou said.

"I know, and I'm really sorry, but I..." Marik tugged on the blanket.

Ryou held it around himself more tightly, backing away to the far corner of the bed. No one was going to get him out of there. "But y-you _said_..." he insisted, mind locked around that one fact in an attempt to ignore everything else about the situation.

"Yeah, but I, um, heard the Spirit of the Millennium Ring and thought he was in here hurting you," Marik said. "I can see now how wrong I was about that." Ryou heard Marik swallow. "So very... _very_ wrong about that..."

"Y-you can hear him?" Ryou asked quietly, cautiously peeking out from under the covers to see Marik and the spirit sitting on opposite sides of the bed, staring at each other. The spirit's face looked challenging; Marik's just looked stunned. Both pairs of eyes turned toward him, and he fled back under the covers. "How?"

"I made an amulet that reveals any spirit in the area," Marik said. "See?"

Ryou heard a rustling noise, as though Marik was pulling something out of his clothes. "Why did you make it?" he asked, wondering if Marik had been suspicious of him for a while.

"We can talk about that later," Marik said. "Um... Can you come out from under there? Please?" he asked, sounding a bit like he was talking to a frightened child.

"No," Ryou said, voice barely audible. Part of him felt like he should do whatever Marik wanted him to, just to make up for what he had to see, but the part of him that wanted to hide forever was far stronger. He was terrified of what Marik must have been thinking of him right then, given what Ryou had been doing in his house with _the spirit_ of all people.

_Actually, I don't believe the tomb keeper is as upset as you're imagining,_ the spirit said. He laughed out loud, causing Marik to look at him strangely for a moment. _If anything, he seems to be enjoying himself._

_W-what?_ Ryou asked, peeking out from under the covers again. He looked at Marik's face, not seeing much enjoyment there. If anything, he looked somewhat embarrassed at the moment, his cheeks tinged a pink barely noticeable over his tan, eyes averted from both Ryou and the spirit. Ryou found it odd to see Marik look that way, but then it wasn't really all that strange given the situation.

_Look a little lower, Landlord._

Ryou's eyes wandered downward, brushing over what looked like a small, colorful stone pendant against Marik's chest and continuing on. He stopped when his gaze hit Marik's lap. "Oh." Ryou just sort of froze, unable to look away.

"H-hey--!" Marik pulled his knees up to his chest, blocking Ryou's view. "You don't have to stare."

"Um. Sorry," Ryou said, though he only really shifted his staring away from its original target over to Marik's face. He sat up next to the headboard, keeping the blanket wrapped around his body like some kind of armor against the world.

"It... It's a perfectly normal reaction to seeing something like that," Marik said weakly, hugging his knees tightly. "It's not like I _wanted_ to see it."

"Y-yeah," Ryou said. "It j-just feels a little weird..."

Marik's expression went from embarrassment to disbelief. "Weirder than discovering two people talking about you in the middle of getting off?"

Ryou winced. "Um. P-probably not," he conceded. "Can't we just forget the whole thing ever happened?" he asked hopefully.

"I can try, but I think it might be burned into my brain forever," Marik said, looking slightly traumatized.

"Oh, please," the spirit said. "We weren't even naked."

"That's not—" Marik cut off, looking at Ryou. "How is he even here?"

"Er..." Ryou's heart sank. He'd been too embarrassed earlier to remember his reasons for keeping the spirit a secret, or to think about how Marik would react to having been lied to. "The ritual didn't really work the way it was supposed to..."

"I got that part," Marik said. "So... you were lying when you said he was gone afterward?" He shifted uncomfortably, looking a little guilty. "Did... did you not even want him gone, because you two are...?"

"What? No!" Ryou nearly shouted, immediately feeling embarrassed by his outburst. "I mean, no," he said, more quietly this time. "I wanted him gone, and I thought at first that he really _was_ gone. He didn't show up again until I got home. Th-that kind of thing didn't happen until later."

"So all this time..." Marik said slowly. "Has it been you all this time? Has he been taking over your body without anyone noticing?" The guilt was far more obvious now.

"No," Ryou assured him. "He can't do that anymore. He's just sort of... stuck near me. I'm the only who can see or hear him. Or f-feel him," he added, redness returning to his cheeks. "I'm sorry I lied to you. And the others..." Panic filled him. Marik seemed to be taking everything in remarkably well, considering the circumstances, but he couldn't see the others reacting so calmly. "A-are you going to tell the others? The Pharaoh?" He tried to keep the fear from his voice, but didn't quite manage it.

"I..." Marik seemed to think about it for a moment before responding. "No. I'm not going to tell anyone. _Definitely_ not the Pharaoh."

Ryou sagged in relief. His grip on the blanket loosened a little, but he didn't let go. He glanced at the spirit and saw him smirking, which made Ryou glad that he wasn't actually saying anything to Marik at the moment. "Thanks. I... they never trusted me before. Not really," he said. He found it difficult to confess his reason for keeping the secret, but he felt like Marik deserved some kind of explanation. "It was the first time I'd ever had friends. I just couldn't tell them. I couldn't take them looking at me like that all the time, suspicious of what I might do..."

Marik gave a short, slightly bitter laugh. "Don't worry. I know _exactly_ what you mean."

Ryou nodded. He felt a little better for finally admitting it, even if it was still painful to think about. It also felt good to have someone else in on his secret, someone who seemed far less upset about it than he would have expected.

"Are you willing to come out from under the blanket yet?" Marik asked, sounding far more amused than he had the last time he asked. "We still need to eat breakfast. We can talk more at the table," he said, standing up from the bed.

"That sounds okay, I guess." Ryou let the covers fall to the bed before remembering that he was still kind of a mess from what he'd been doing earlier. He scrambled to cover his lap with a pillow. "B-but, u-um..."

"Or you could shower first," Marik said.

"Y-yeah. That's probably a good idea," Ryou replied, welcoming some time alone before having to face Marik again.

Marik walked to the door. "I'll just be in my room."

"Yes, you should really take some time to _relax,_" the spirit said smugly.

Marik blinked once before recognition hit him. He looked slightly flustered for a moment, then seemed to decide it wasn't worth it. "Maybe I will_,_" he declared, leaving the room.

Ryou buried his face in his hands. _D__id you have to say that to him?_

_He says things like that to you all the time. You should be happy he's now had to experience it for himself._

It _did_ feel a little gratifying to see Marik's words turned back on him, but Ryou still wished the spirit hadn't done it. _He was only trying to help. Besides, he won't have any reason to say things like that anymore._

Ryou grabbed some clothes to wear and carried them to the bathroom with his shower things. He locked the door and turned to find the spirit in the bathroom with him. He groaned, wishing he could shower on his own just this once. It wasn't like he was the only one the spirit could talk to now.

_And here I was assuming you'd want to spare the tomb keeper a conversation with me while I'm naked,_ the spirit said. _Especially if he decided to take my advice_.

Ryou had the sudden unwanted image of the spirit walking into Marik's room naked while he was _relaxing_ and then deciding to make comments._ Gah. Um. Yeah. S-stay in here with me. Definitely. _Marik had really had enough for one day without having that inflicted on him as well.

Ryou turned on the water and shrugged out of his pajamas, shoving them into a pile on the sink. He stepped into the shower, enjoying the feel of the hot water as it washed away the evidence of what he'd been doing earlier. He washed his whole body thoroughly, taking his time to do it. He knew that when he finished he'd have to go out there and talk to Marik some more, and even though Marik's reaction hadn't been all that bad, he wasn't really looking forward to it.

_You do realize that the longer we stay in here together, the more suspicious he'll get about what exactly we're doing._

Ryou didn't say anything to that, but he did speed up considerably. He quickly dried himself off and yanked on his clothes. His hair was still damp, making the back of his shirt slightly wet.

He took his things back to his room, putting his pajamas with the pile of other clothes he needed to wash, then wandered back out to find Marik. He checked the kitchen first, finding his friend looking through various boxes of cereal. He noticed Ryou and the spirit walk into the room together and looked back and forth between them. "Is he always in there with you?" he asked, clearly assuming exactly what the spirit thought he would.

"He's naked when I'm naked," Ryou rushed to explain, only realizing afterward that it didn't exactly help his case. "Er-- I m-mean, I didn't think he should wander around naked now that you can see him."

Marik made a face. "Um. Yeah." He shook his head, then pulled a box of cereal down from the cupboard. "Want some?"

"Okay," Ryou said, going to the fridge for some milk.

They got their breakfasts together and sat down at the table, the spirit sitting in one of the other chairs, looking bored. They ate in silence for several minutes, nearly finishing before Marik finally said something. "So, when did you two start... um...?"

Ryou wasn't prepared for the question at all. He struggled not to choke on his cereal, giving the spirit an opening to respond. "Since the last time you saw him become an incoherent mess at school," he said, sounding pleased by the opportunity to gloat about it.

Given what he'd said earlier about wanting people to know, Ryou supposed he shouldn't be surprised.

"That was..." Marik started to say, then put a hand to his forehead. "Of course it was. That explains everything." His face took on a slightly disturbed expression. "Wait, he harassed you into this?"

"Actually, he was harassing me into getting you to let us look at your magic book," Ryou said, feeling nervous about Marik's possible reaction to this. He didn't know where aiding the spirit in accomplishing his goals fell on the scale of objectionable things he'd done. Marik might well consider it worse than what he'd seen them doing. "And later I sort of... jumped on him."

"_You_ jumped on _him_?" Marik looked like he was having trouble imagining this. "Really?" He glanced over at the spirit, who was sitting there looking satisfied with the memory.

Ryou was a little surprised the spirit wasn't trying to stop him from revealing what he'd been trying to get him to do.

_The tomb keeper isn't completely stupid,_ the spirit said over their mental link._ He would have worked it out on his own eventually. It's better that you tell him yourself before that happens._

Ryou supposed that made sense, but he was really just relieved to be able to talk to Marik without the spirit trying to interfere. "H-he was driving me crazy," he said in response to Marik's question, cheeks turning pink. "I couldn't take it anymore."

"You did look like you were going to break down any minute," Marik said, then started to look a little confused. "So you jumped him and then you two just... um... kept with it after that."

"It's an incentive. For his cooperation in getting me a new body."

Ryou hid his face behind his hands, peeking out the space between his fingers. He knew he should probably explain the deal himself before the spirit made it seem even more sordid than it actually was, but it was easier to let him do it.

"A new body?" Marik asked, understanding hitting him. "That would be why you wanted to see the book. But that was over a month ago. What did you have him doing after that?"

"He's been learning to create my form in clay."

"And in exchange for this you... um..." Marik waved his hands around.

"Yes_,_" the spirit said, taking a moment to leer at Ryou.

Marik coughed, still looking at the spirit. "You know, it seems like every side of this deal is meant to work for you..."

Ryou felt the need to protest this. "But he can't even... um..."

"That doesn't mean he isn't getting anything out of it," Marik said, eying the spirit distrustfully. He shook his head, turning to Ryou. "I haven't seen you with your clay all week. Were you working on it in secret?" he asked, sounding more curious than particularly upset.

"Um. No," Ryou said. "He wanted me to, but I didn't want you to find me making a lifesize model of his head and think I was nuts." They'd been arguing about it all week, but the spirit had somewhat surprisingly refrained from actually trying to coerce him into doing it.

"So you agreed to do it this morning?" Marik asked.

"Huh? No," Ryou said, briefly wondering where he'd gotten that idea from.

Marik looked perplexed. "Then why was he giving you your... um... _incentive_?"

"Oh." It made sense now. "That just sort of happened," Ryou said. "I w-was... I mean I.... I do things in my sleep sometimes..." he stammered, having to explain almost worse than just having Marik walk in and see everything for himself. "And he was right under me..."

"Under you? Why was he under you?" Marik asked, sounding even more bewildered than before.

"Um. I have nightmares?" Ryou said, finding that part difficult to explain in its own right. "I sleep better when he hugs me," he finished uncomfortably.

"Hugs...?" Marik glanced over at the spirit, who was already on the defensive, arms crossed and face _daring_ Marik to say something about it. Marik returned his attention to Ryou. "Was that part of the deal?"

"No," Ryou said, the whole thing sounding bizarre now that he had to talk about it out loud. He'd just sort of gotten used it, thinking of it as almost normal. "That started before the deal."

"So let me get this straight," Marik said, face looking half-frustrated and half as though he was trying not to laugh. "You were just... ah... cuddling him in your sleep, like you normally do," Marik continued, looking as though he still couldn't quite believe that part, "And then you started, um, doing something to him in your sleep, which he decided to go along with, as an incentive for your cooperation, even though you haven't been cooperating for at least a week?"

Ryou didn't know what to say. Put that way it did sound completely absurd. "Yeah?"

"Are you in love with him?" Marik asked bluntly.

"W-what?" Ryou asked, the question seeming to come from out of nowhere and knocking him totally off balance. "I-I..." Ryou knew he should have been able to answer the question instantly, and things were only getting worse as the seconds passed without him coming up with some kind of response. "Th-that's... I..."

Marik's expression softened. "Never mind. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that." He looked at the spirit again, visibly assessing him. The spirit only scowled back at him, not saying anything.

Ryou was still reeling from the question Marik had thrown at him. He desperately wished for the conversation to be somewhere else. "So, um, you aren't angry that I was helping him get a new body?" Ryou asked, preferring even that topic to what they'd just been discussing.

"No," Marik said. "You shouldn't have to be stuck with him for the rest of your life. Not if you don't want to be," he added, sounding a little uncertain. "The Pharaoh may have been more concerned with stopping him, but I was always more concerned with freeing you."

"Oh," Ryou said, the whole conversation making him wish he'd just told Marik the truth months ago. But then, they'd barely known each other then. And if things had gone differently, he and the spirit might never have...

Ryou didn't know why that thought was so painful, but he decided to just be glad things seemed to be working out okay, at least for the moment. He took the last bite of his now-soggy cereal, then stood up, intending to go wash his bowl. He looked to see if Marik was finished and saw the colorful pendant still sitting against his chest, allowing him to see the spirit.

"So, um, why did you make an amulet for seeing spirits in the first place?" Ryou asked curiously, wondering if Marik would be willing to tell him now that he wasn't hiding under a blanket.

Marik put his spoon down on the table. "Right. That," he said, face growing serious. "You should sit down."

"Okay," Ryou said, sitting back down in his chair and putting the bowl back on the table. "Did you think that the spirit was still here?" he asked, though Marik's reaction to the question suggested it was something else.

"No, I had _no idea_ he wasn't gone. I was completely surprised earlier," Marik said. "No... this is for something else," he added, sounding as though he didn't know how to put it.

"Something to do with the Pharaoh, perhaps?" the spirit asked neutrally.

Ryou blinked. "The Pharaoh?" He looked at Marik. "Is it really something to do with him?"

"Yeah..." Marik said, toying with the amulet around his neck.

"You've seemed a little odd around him this week," Ryou said. "Ever since we saw him on Sunday. What happened?" he asked. He knew it had to be something the Pharaoh did when they saw him that day, but he still hadn't been able to figure out what had changed Marik's attitude then, despite being right there when it happened.

"The puzzle didn't glow," Marik said quietly, looking down at the table.

Ryou still didn't know what he meant, but the spirit immediately sat up straight. "Heh. You're right. It didn't."

"What do you mean?" Ryou asked.

Marik looked up from the table. "On Sunday, when the Pharaoh took over from Yugi. His face changed, but... the puzzle didn't glow."

Ryou thought back to the meeting and realized that was true. Wheels spun inside his head, bringing only one conclusion to his mind. He dug his fingers into his shirt, horrified. "You think... you think the Pharaoh's just taken over all the time, pretending to be him?"

"Maybe," Marik said, not sounding thrilled about the possibility himself. "That's why I made this." He held up the amulet for a moment. "I've been working on it all week. The next time I see Yugi, I'll be able to tell if there's a spirit controlling his body. And if it's true, we can do something about it." Marik sounded like he didn't quite know what that 'something' would actually be.

The spirit laughed maliciously. "There's always what you tried to do to _me_..."

"That clearly didn't work, though," Marik said.

"Only because you didn't bother to verify that I was in control at the time," the spirit said. "That shouldn't be problem here," he added, pointing at the amulet.

"Wait, you weren't in control?" Marik asked, clearly surprised. "That changes everything. But we'd have to figure out a way to get him in position without noticing what's going on, and he knows exactly what that ritual looks like."

"We can't do anything until we know for sure, though," Ryou said, wondering if the Pharaoh really had taken over, and if so, how long he'd been in control without anyone noticing. Just since Sunday? Weeks? Months and months? He'd always resented his friends a little for not being able to tell when the spirit was pretending to be him, but he hadn't even suspected Yugi might not be himself until just now, after being told something was wrong by someone else. "Why would the Pharaoh do something like this?" he wondered aloud.

"The Pharaoh thinks everything rightfully belongs to him, including other people's bodies," the spirit said disdainfully.

Ryou just glared at him in total disbelief.

"Think what you will about me, Landlord, but at least I was well aware that I was _stealing_ from you," the spirit said. "The Pharaoh just thinks he's owed."

"He was fine sharing a body before now," Ryou protested, though he remembered that the Pharaoh _had_ simply taken over whenever Yugi was in danger. But it wasn't like the Pharaoh had just gone wandering around in Yugi's body without his permission like the spirit had with Ryou's. "Why would he suddenly need the body all to himself?"

"Perhaps that weak fool of a host of his finally refused to go along with something he wanted to do," the spirit said.

"Like what?" Ryou asked.

"Like break into your apartment," Marik said, looking for a moment like the pieces had clicked before he shook his head. "But he didn't have any reason to do that. He doesn't like you, but I can't see him just doing all that damage behind your back for no reason. If he wanted to hurt you, he could just come after you directly, like he does everyone else."

"Er. Actually, whoever broke into my apartment was after the Millennium Eye," Ryou said, remembering that Marik had no way of knowing. "Hey, I didn't even know we had it until it was stolen," he added at Marik's sharp glance.

"I could see him breaking into your apartment for that," Marik said slowly. He turned to the spirit. "Did the Pharaoh know you had the Millennium Eye?"

"Of course not," the spirit said. "I was hardly advertising the fact."

"Even if the Pharaoh did know we had it," Ryou began, "how would he know it was in the cou--" Ryou cut off, eyes widening at the realization.

The spirit scowled. "I cannot _believe_ you figured this out before I did."

"What?" Marik asked. "What is it?"

Ryou swallowed, remembering everything from the way the burglar had seemed so unprepared during his first attempt, to the way he'd run into Yugi just after meeting the holder of the Millennium Key, to the way the burglar had gone directly to the Millennium Eye in its bizarre hiding place, all of it now making a _terrible_ amount of sense in light of one simple fact, a fact he'd known for months.

"The Pharaoh didn't need to know. He has the Millennium Ring."


	20. A Plan Of Action

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 19)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

"The Pharaoh has the Millennium Ring," Marik repeated, words nearly a groan. "Of course. That explains why the first attack was so weird. If he was just walking around following where it pointed him, he wouldn't have known he'd have to break into somewhere to get it. "

Ryou nodded. "Before Yugi had them, the Millennium Items were all with their owners all the time."

"But what was he doing all that time between the two break-ins?" Marik asked, playing with his spoon, mostly-finished breakfast now completely forgotten. "It can't have taken that long to figure out a way into your apartment. Even if he did decide to do it the most difficult way possible."

"He was seeking the remaining two Millennium Items," the spirit declared, as though trying to sound like he'd known the whole time.

Marik blinked. "But Shadi's back in Egypt. Isn't he?"

"You know him?" Ryou asked, wondering if this was another thing he'd missed while the spirit had been in control.

A pained look crossed Marik's face for a moment before dissipating. "Um. Yeah. I know him from back home," he said. "I didn't think you knew him."

"I only met him once," Ryou said. "It was about a week after the first break-in attempt."

"You're sure it was him?" Marik asked.

"Um, as sure as I can be?" Ryou said, glancing at the spirit for confirmation. "He had the key and the scales. He said some things that didn't make any sense, then weighed our souls. After that he just sort of disappeared."

"Yeah," Marik said, face blank. "That sounds like him. What _exactly_ did he say?"

"He said that he'd come because he sensed an attempted theft of a Millennium Item – the eye, I guess," Ryou said, wishing the man had simply told him that outright. Or that the spirit had explained it, for that matter. "Then he said that several items had actually been stolen, and that one of them was the Millennium Ring."

"Wait, so the ring was stolen?" Marik asked. "That means the Pharaoh might be innocent after all."

"Er. Not really. Yugi showed up right after we finished talking," Ryou said, remembering Yugi's strange behavior that day. "I got him to let me see the items, and they were all still there in the game shop."

"That's... weird," Marik said, sounding confused. "Shadi should know when an item's been stolen, and I can't see why he'd lie about it happening."

Ryou shrugged, not having any idea himself.

"Perhaps he simply meant they were being misused," the spirit said. "And just felt like being intolerably cryptic."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Marik said, rubbing his eyes. He looked at Ryou. "So, you said Yugi appeared right after you talked to him?"

"Yeah," Ryou said. "And he tried to go in the same direction. I didn't see the ring with him," he continued, trying to recall the scene in his mind. "But I wasn't expecting it to be with him. He hid that map in his bag really quickly when we first ran into each other..."

"Okay, so he probably was going after the key and the scales that day, at least," Marik said. "And leaving the eye alone because it didn't seem to be going anywhere."

"Wait..." Ryou said, having a thought. "If that's why he was leaving the eye alone all this time, wouldn't that mean he has them now?"

"Maybe..." Marik said. He stood up. "We should go to the game shop."

"Now?" Ryou asked, not feeling entirely ready to face what might be either his friend or the Pharaoh, and also feeling guilty about feeling that way. He'd always been upset at his friends for acting like that toward him.

"We need to find out if I'm right about the Pharaoh being in control," Marik said. "We can't do anything until we know."

"Let's go, Landlord," the spirit added impatiently.

Ryou felt outnumbered, but it was the thought of Yugi possibly being trapped in what had used to be _his_ nightmare that finally convinced him. "Okay."

They quickly cleaned up and headed out the door. They marched to the game shop in relative silence, brooding for most of the way. Ryou spoke up about a block away from their destination.

"Will you really be able to see the Pharaoh if he's in control of Yugi's body?" Ryou asked quietly, eyes darting around. He half-expected the Pharaoh to be hiding in every bush. "It doesn't seem like it would be the same as seeing a disembodied spirit..."

"It isn't the same," Marik said. "But if Yugi's body is possessed, he should glow when I see him." They walked to the front of the shop. Marik put his hand on the door. "Well, here we go..." He pushed the door open and the two walked inside.

Ryou looked around, seeing Yugi's grandpa smile and wave at him before returning to helping a customer. Yugi (or the Pharaoh) was nowhere in sight. Ryou also noticed that the spirit had disappeared somewhere.

_I'm looking around back here. Your friend is here... or his body is, anyway._

Ryou had a disturbing image of Yugi lying dead on the floor of his room. _You really could have phrased that differently._ He followed Marik up to the counter, where Yugi's grandpa had just finished ringing up the customer.

"You boys here to see Yugi again? Go right in," he said, letting them in through the back.

Ryou and Marik walked to the door of Yugi's room. Ryou knocked on the door softly, still instinctively trying to avoid disturbing anyone, even in the current situation.

When nothing happened for several seconds, Marik knocked hard on the door. "Yugi?"

Sounds came from inside the room, then the door opened. "Hey, guys."

Ryou watched as Marik's eyes widened, then closed for a brief second before his expression returned to normal. "Hey," Marik said, a slightly forced-looking smile appearing on his face. "We were just going to the movies. Want to come with?" Marik's eyes were briefly drawn to the inside of Yugi's room.

Ryou looked in that direction and saw the spirit walking around the room, sticking his head through various pieces of furniture. _What are you doing?_

_I'm looking for the items. He has the eye hidden with the rest of them under the bed,_ the spirit told him, tone radiating contempt for the hiding place. _The key is there as well._

_What about the scale?_ Ryou asked. The thought of all the items being united felt ominous, though he didn't really know why. It wasn't like the scale would give the Pharaoh much more power than he already had in the six other items.

_Oh, but it would. You're right to be afraid, Landlord,_ the spirit said, voice lacking any of the mockery Ryou would have expected.

It made the small, niggling fear grow much larger.

"I would, but I have to study," Yugi said, making a face.

"That's too bad," Ryou said. "Um. We should get going, or we'll, uh, miss the beginning."

"Yeah," Marik said. "Another time, maybe."

"See you later," Yugi said.

The two boys fled the shop. Marik started heading back toward his apartment, but Ryou stopped him a short distance away, just out of sight of the building. "I think the spirit is still searching the room..."

_The rest of the shop, actually._

Ryou looked at Marik. "So... Was he...?" he asked, though he was already fairly certain what the answer would be.

"Yeah," Marik said unhappily. "He was."

"What are we going to do?" Ryou asked

"I don't know, but we probably shouldn't talk about it here," Marik replied.

The spirit appeared in front of the two of them. "He has the eye and the key, but the scale is nowhere to be found."

"You're sure?" Ryou asked.

"I'm certain," the spirit replied. "I searched every possible hiding place, including ones I doubt the Pharaoh is intelligent enough to think of."

"That's good..." Ryou said, feeling a little relieved.

The three walked back to Marik's apartment, settling in Marik's room. Marik took his desk chair. Ryou sat on the edge of the bed, while the spirit freely sprawled out on the lavender bedspread.

"So. The Pharaoh has six of the seven items," Marik said.

"How can he have the key and not the scale?" Ryou wondered. "Shadi kept it right around his neck. Wouldn't it be more difficult to steal?" he asked, looking at the spirit. At least the spirit's thieving knowledge would come in handy for once.

_This is hardly the first time my skills have been useful to you, Landlord, _the spirit told him over their mental link. He continued aloud. "He may have kept the key around his neck, but he kept the scale concealed in his robes when not using it. For an idiot making a direct attack against him, the key would have been easy to simply grab and rip away from him."

Ryou nodded. "What does he even want with all the items?"

"He might just want to keep them safe," Marik said. "He doesn't seem to trust anyone else to do it."

"I guess..." Ryou said, but he was still eying the spirit, remembering what he'd said earlier. _Is there something about the items we should know about? Why did you want them all before, anyway?_

The spirit tilted his chin. _You know how I enjoy taking things of value._

_Then why don't you want them **now**?_ Ryou thought, face show exactly how little he believed what the spirit was telling him.

_The cost of having them is far more than they're worth._

_What does that mean?_ Ryou asked exasperatedly.

"Um. Am I missing something?" Marik asked, looking between Ryou and the spirit.

"Huh? Oh." Ryou realized that having a drawn out mental conversation while someone else was there might be a little impolite. "Sorry. I think he knows more than he's telling us."

"There is a reason why someone might wish to bring the items together," the spirit said reluctantly. "But as much as I dislike the Pharaoh, I don't see him doing it for that particular purpose."

"Well, that was nice and vague_,_" Marik said.

"Earlier you said I should be afraid of the Pharaoh bringing all the items together," Ryou persisted.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen," the spirit warned.

"You know, it doesn't really matter," Marik said, seeming to see getting information out of the spirit as a lost cause. "We don't know where Shadi is, so we can't protect the scale directly, and we still have to get the Pharaoh out of Yugi's body, which should solve that problem anyway."

"Is it possible to do the ritual you used on us?" Ryou asked, remembering the spirit's suggestion from earlier. "Or is the Pharaoh the only person who can say the spell?" Ryou added, hoping it wasn't the case.

"No, either of us should be able to do it," Marik said, pulling out his desk drawer and rifling through the mess of stuff inside. "The Pharaoh insisted on being the one to do it last time."

"Didn't trust you, did he?" the spirit commented, sounding amused.

"No," Marik said shortly, eyes focused on the papers in his desk. "Neither did the others."

Ryou glared at the spirit. _Don't say things like that. It's not nice._

The spirit stared back at him unapologetically. _It's __**true**__._

Ryou shook his head, turning his attention back to Marik. "Do we have everything we need to do it?" he asked, mind straining to remember what had been involved in the ritual all those months ago.

"Most of it," Marik said, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from the bottom of the drawer. "The artifacts belong to my family, so most of them are in the museum..." Marik frowned for a second. "We'll have to tell Ishizu what we're doing."

"Do... do you think she'll be okay with it?" Ryou asked. Ishizu seemed fairly reasonable, but he wasn't sure how she would react to them attempting to exorcise the Pharaoh.

"If we explain everything, I think so," Marik said, skimming the list in his hands. "We'll also need Duel Monsters cards, but I still have my old ones in my closet somewhere. The only thing we're missing is the bowl..."

Ryou cringed. "Er. You don't by any chance mean the bowl I broke, do you?"

"Um. Yeah, actually," Marik said. "We can make another one, though," he rushed to assure Ryou. "The main requirements are that it be the right size and shape, as well as being made by someone with a connection to the spirit world." Marik glanced at the spirit, then back at Ryou again. "I think you qualify."

"Does the material matter?" Ryou asked. "I have a kind of clay that solidifies on its own after a few hours."

"That should work," Marik said, putting the list in his pocket. "We'll still need to figure out a way to lure the Pharaoh into position without him suspecting anything, but we should probably get everything together, first." He stood up from his desk. "I'll go to the museum to talk to Ishizu. You stay here and make the bowl."

Ryou nodded. "It shouldn't be that difficult..."

The two left to complete their individual tasks.

* * *

About an hour later, Ryou looked on his creation with satisfaction. Despite not have any kind of pottery wheel and using the wrong sort of clay to make a bowl, his had come out to exactly the size and shape Marik had specified. Ryou had propped up the sides, so that they wouldn't collapse before they solidified, and was now letting it dry on the coffee table. He wiped his hands on a towel and lay face down on the couch, feeling ready for a nap.

Ryou felt the spirit sit on top of him, then lightly squeeze his shoulders. Ryou sighed softly. He'd missed this for reasons completely unrelated to what they'd done that morning. Or mostly unrelated, anyway.

"Heh. You more than deserve your usual reward, Landlord," the spirit said, caressing Ryou's back.

Marik walked in the front door at that moment, then seemed to reconsider his decision to come inside. "I'll just, um... yeah," he said, looking ready to flee his own apartment.

"W-wait!" Ryou shoved the spirit off him, sitting upright on the couch. "He's not... H-he just means a massage."

"Look, you don't have to call it--"

"An _actual_ massage," Ryou said, covering his burning face with his hands.

"Oh." Marik looked a little surprised. "He likes to give you massages?"

"I merely like to reward cooperation," the spirit said, disappearing from where he'd been thrown to the floor and reappearing behind Ryou on the couch. "Working to defeat the Pharaoh certainly counts as cooperation."

"Wouldn't that mean I get a massage, too?" Marik asked.

Ryou dropped his hands, looking at Marik in a panic before noticing the joking tone. He immediately felt ridiculous.

The spirit seemed mildly annoyed. "_You_ get to be happy to have the opportunity to make up for casting me out of my home."

"You don't seem all that upset about that," Marik commented.

"Yes, well, luckily for you, I happened to be in need of a good exorcism," the spirit said. "It helps to make up for what you did, but only partially."

Ryou attempted to puzzle out what the spirit was talking about, but quickly gave up on it. He watched Marik close the door. "What did Ishizu think?" he asked.

Marik sat down in the chair next to the coffee table, looking Ryou's bowl over. "She was... quiet, but I could tell she was upset about it. She says we can use whatever artifacts we want, and we can use the empty room in the back for the ritual itself."

"That's good," Ryou said. He still felt terrible about what was happening to Yugi, but it relieved him to know that things were falling into place, that they were actually doing something to help him. "Did you tell her about... um... _him_?" he asked, gesturing at the spirit. His eyes widened at his next thought. "Did you tell her about this morning?" he squeaked, horrified at the idea of Ishizu thinking about him in that situation. They might not actually be related, but she was enough like an older sister for it to disturb him that much more.

"I told her about the spirit," Marik said. "But I didn't say anything about your... um... reward system," he added, looking uncomfortable. Whether this was at the 'reward system' or the thought of talking about it with Ishizu, Ryou wasn't sure.

"Thanks," Ryou said. "I don't think I'd be able to look her in the eye ever again if..."

"You don't have to worry about that," Marik said. "She's a lot more sensible than I am, so she probably wouldn't ever walk in on you the way I did. Which I won't ever do again either," he added emphatically. "If your door is closed, I'll just stay away." He waved his hands to indicate distance. "Far, _far_ away."

"H-hey," Ryou protested, not liking what Marik would be assuming every time he had his door closed. He briefly considered leaving it open all the time, but he liked privacy in general far too much to do that. "I'm not going to be doing that while I'm here. It shouldn't even have happened this morning."

"But it did happen," Marik pointed out.

"L-look," Ryou said, feeling a little like running to hide under his blanket again. "I'm not doing it again. I don't think I _could_ do it after what happened this morning," he finished weakly.

"Wait, you can't just give it up forever," Marik said, sounding guilty. "It's not healthy."

"Well, I am," Ryou said, forcing himself to sound firm.

"Okay..." Marik said uneasily. He cleared his throat. "So. Um. Does this mean that if I walk by your room and hear you making strange noises while he's saying things, I should come in to rescue you?"

There were a few moments of complete silence before Ryou mumbled out his answer. "Er. Probably not." Ryou caught a glimpse of the spirit smirking next to him. Ryou tried to ignore it, reaching for the bag of clay sitting on the floor, intending to put it away.

The spirit put a hand on his. "You haven't practiced creating my form all week. Everyone here knows about me now, so you no longer have any excuse."

Ryou set the bag back down on the floor and groaned, not wanting to go back to the endless practice sculpting the spirit's features. He was perfectly satisfied to use the clay for making bowls.

"What spell were you guys intending to use, anyway?" Marik asked. "Actually, let me get the book." He got up and retrieved the book from the other room, sitting back down and setting it in his lap afterward. He opened it up and started flipping through it. "Now, what are you trying to do?"

"It's the one all the way at the back," Ryou said. "About making a form out of clay, then turning it to flesh..."

Marik quickly found the spell, facial expression growing ever more disbelieving as he read through it. "Uh... Are you sure you guys can get all this stuff? Some of these plants are extinct. And the clay..."

"The clay merely needs to be retrieved from the valley," the spirit insisted stubbornly. "And it's perfectly possible to find modern equivalents for the plants, the same way you intend to use trading cards in the ritual you're about to do."

"Still... I'm not sure there _are_ modern equivalents of these," Marik said. He flipped backward through the book. "Surely there's something else? Something in the section about spirits would make more sense."

"We went through the whole book," Ryou said.

"Yeah, but I thought I remembered us talking about..." Marik turned the pages, stopping midway through the book. "Here it is. To bind an in-between spirit..."

"That spell won't work," the spirit said, tone oddly defensive to Ryou's ears.

"Just a minute," Marik said absently, skimming through the pages covering that particular spell and looking up when I was finished. "It's as I thought, you meet all the criteria. It wouldn't take all that much to pull off, either."

"Yes, but as I told you, the spell _won't work_," the spirit said, sounding angrier now. "We don't meet the requirements."

Marik blinked. "Which part don't you...?" He turned back to the first page of the spell, then started naming the different requirements, nodding at each one. "You're bound only to each other; he's alive; he can perform magic; you have a sympathetic bond--"

"We do _not_," the spirit said vehemently, arms crossed in front of him.

Marik stared at the spirit. "What do you mean you don't?" he asked, disbelief plain on his face. "All that requires is some kind of positive feeling toward each other. If you care about him even a _tiny_ amount--"

"I don't_,_" the spirit said. "So you should just drop it. Now."

Ryou, who had been quietly watching the exchange from his vantage point, deflated instantly, shoulders sagging and head dropping to stare at the floor. He knew he shouldn't have expected anything else, but it was still depressing to hear it put so bluntly. He almost expected a comment from the spirit to bring him even lower, but the spirit seemed to be actively ignoring him at the moment, not even turning his head in his direction.

Marik reached over to rub Ryou's arm, face concerned.

Ryou forced a smile onto his face and pulled away.

Marik didn't look satisfied with this, but he dropped his hand, turning back to the spirit. "Are you sure?" he asked, tone almost challenging. "The spell is simple. It would take less than half an hour to attempt, and if you really don't meet the requirements, it just won't work. Why don't you just try it out?"

The spirit scowled. "Because there's no point in wasting half an hour on something doomed to fail."

"You're wasting a lot more time on the other spell, and you won't even be able to get half the things you need for it," Marik said.

"Wouldn't we have to get things for this spell, too?" Ryou asked, hoping to end the depressing argument going on in front of him. "It doesn't make sense to divide our attention between multiple spells..."

"All this one requires is a special kind of doll," Marik said. "One that is capable of holding a soul."

Ryou frowned. "You mean, like a Monster World doll?"

"A what?" Marik asked, looking confused.

"Yes, like a Monster World doll," the spirit said impatiently. "Like one of the ones _you_ have, anyway. I modified them a little."

"Oh," Marik said, seeming to understand what they were talking about, though Ryou wasn't entirely sure how much he knew. Ryou hadn't told him much himself. "So you have everything you need, then," Marik declared.

"He would still need to cut his hand to perform the spell," the spirit said, moving to stand right in front of Marik, legs intersecting with the table. "Aren't you concerned about him having to feel all that pain for nothing?"

Marik looked right back up at him. "I might be," he said. "But I wouldn't think _you_ would be, if you really don't care about him at all."

"He would probably damage his hand beyond repair," the spirit said. "It would make sculpting the figure for the other spell impossible."

Ryou looked at Marik in alarm, wondering why he was trying to get them to do something so dangerous.

"Beyond re..." Marik noticed Ryou looking at him and met his eyes. "It's a small cut. There's no way you'd damage your hand that much."

"He's very clumsy," the spirit insisted. "He'd manage it somehow."

Marik seemed to give up on talking to the spirit. "You know, you don't need his help to do that spell," he said to Ryou.

"What?" Ryou asked, wanting to look at the spirit's reaction, but stopping himself. He didn't know what he'd feel if their eyes met right then.

"The conduit does all the active work," Marik said. "You could just ignore him, try it, and see if it works."

_Ignoring me is unwise_, the spirit threatened.

Ryou finally looked up at him and was met with a completely blank face. _There's no actual __**harm**__ in me trying it, right?_ Ryou thought, more to himself than the spirit. All the same, he imagined trying the spell and seeing it fail right in front of him, _proving_ how little the spirit cared about him in a way he couldn't possibly ignore; having to continue living with the spirit, completely aware of just how little he really mattered... "It's probably not a good idea," Ryou said softly, looking away from both of the others.

Marik looked frustrated at both of them. He sighed. "Fine," he said, though he sounded like he didn't consider the matter truly settled. "We should start gathering things for the ritual." He walked to the hallway.

Ryou followed after him, feeling considerably drained, but determined to throw himself into whatever Marik wanted him to do.

He desperately needed the distraction.


	21. An Exorcism

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 20)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.  
**A/N**: Just another quick chapter to end the weekend...

* * *

It took Ryou and Marik the entire rest of the day and several trips back and forth between the apartment and the museum, but they finally got the ritual set up in the back room. After that, Ryou had collapsed in his bed, feeling exhausted.

The spirit had already been there waiting, as usual. Ryou had crawled on top of him with more reluctance than ever before, still feeling upset about what he'd said earlier. Ryou had lain there, unable to sleep, forced to think about what he'd been avoiding for the past several hours – the spirit's apparent indifference toward him.

It hurt. It hurt far more than Ryou had thought it should. He realized that whatever he had been pretending before, he had assumed some small amount of... of _affection_ on the spirit's part. Not a lot, maybe, but he'd almost been taking it for granted that there was _something_ in the spirit's willingness to hug and kiss him all the time, that he wasn't completely disliked. The spirit's presence became painful in a whole new way; Ryou couldn't relax into his arms for more than a few seconds without the knowledge of how empty it all was making him stiffen up again.

His discomfort grew as he lay there, tired but wide awake, fearful that the spirit would say something nasty about his feelings, about how _weak_ he was for even caring about what other people thought of him.

But the spirit didn't say anything one way or the other, simply holding onto him the way he always did, though he seemed to be brooding more than usual. When Ryou became so anxious that he started shaking, the spirit absently rubbed his back in the same calming way he had countless times before.

It almost made Ryou feel even worse, but eventually he grew so tired that he couldn't help but fall into a fitful sleep.

He had a nightmare for the first time since the spirit had started cuddling him to sleep. In it, the spirit loomed over him, tearing him apart for ever believing he'd been cared about. The mocking laughter rang in his ears even after he woke up.

Ryou stumbled out of the room in his pajamas, still feeling exhausted after the not particularly restful night's sleep he'd gotten. He ran into Marik on the way to the bathroom and saw that he was already dressed.

"I'm going to head out. Meet me at the museum?" Marik said.

"Yeah," Ryou said, yawning. "See you there." He went to shower and get dressed, refusing to look at the spirit as he did so.

The spirit was as silent as he was, which Ryou started to find strange after a while. He began to wonder why the spirit _wasn't_ making mean comments, feeling more confused than afraid of the idea at that point. Ryou was more down than he'd been in a long time; surely it was the perfect time for a swift kick?

Unless the spirit was lying about not caring about him, it occurred to Ryou as he chewed on some toast. He glanced at the spirit's face, finding a scowl there. "Did you want something, Landlord?"

Ryou turned back to his breakfast, frowning. The spirit lied all the time. Why should Ryou assume he was telling the truth about this?

"I have no reason to lie," the spirit told him.

Ryou thought about that as he walked to the museum. The first thing he came up with was that the spirit didn't _need_ a reason, he hid things instinctively. The next was that he might consider it weak to be caught caring about someone. He'd berated Ryou for it enough times.

"You're making up excuses," the spirit said.

_Maybe I am_, Ryou admitted. It didn't effect the little boost to his mood, however. He walked to the room where he and Marik had set up the ritual, feeling more energetic despite his lack of sleep.

Ryou walked to the corner of the room, avoiding stepping on any of the Duel Monsters cards laid out in a circle around the floor. They'd used double-sided tape to stick the cards in place, but it didn't hurt to be careful. The artifacts were sitting in clear display cases around the room. They were trying to disguise the arrangement so the Pharaoh wouldn't see what was going on, and Marik had said that the cases wouldn't interfere with the ritual, as long as the artifacts themselves were positioned correctly.

Hopefully the Pharaoh wouldn't be looking closely enough to notice an odd blue bowl made out of modern modeling clay in the midst of the rest of the artifacts.

Ryou took several canvas painter's tarps from the table in the corner, then started spreading them out over the floor on top of the cards, making sure not to knock them out of place as he did so. When he was finished, the room looked like any other half-completed exhibit.

Marik walked in just as Ryou finished putting the final tarp over the cards. He was carrying a cardboard box, which he put down on the table in the corner. He surveyed the room. "Looks good."

"Where'd you go?" Ryou asked, wondering how he'd managed to get there before Marik despite leaving later.

"I went to your apartment," Marik said.

Ryou didn't know what he'd expected the answer to that question to be, but that was not it. "Huh? Why?"

"Because he refuses to give up on his foolish idea," the spirit said, looking inside the box.

"What?" Ryou asked, joining the others by the box. He glanced at the contents, seeing a clear plastic box containing several figurines resembling Ryou and his friends, sans Marik, since he'd made the figures before they'd ever met. "Hey!" Ryou said. "You can't take that!"

"I'm not taking it, I'm bringing it to you," Marik said. "So that you have the _option_ of trying the spell, even if you don't intend to do it," he added, sounding like he thought Ryou was crazy not to. He held out a piece of paper. "Here are the specific instructions."

"Thanks... I'll think about it," Ryou said, taking the paper and looking it over. Aside from the small cut on his left hand, it really didn't look very difficult. Marik hadn't been exaggerating when he said it wouldn't take more than half an hour to attempt, if that. He put the paper in his pocket, turning back to the plastic box. "Wait, so you just... went into my apartment? I thought the police were still watching over it," he said, starting to worry about his other belongings.

"Actually, the detective let me in," Marik replied. "I said you were getting homesick, and I thought you should have something familiar around."

Ryou cringed. The detective had already seemed to think of him as a child, and he doubted this would help his impression any. He picked up the plastic box and opened it, removing the small figures. "How much does it need to look like him?" Ryou asked, wondering what would happen if he used Yugi's figure, or even Téa's.

"It doesn't need to look like him at all, really," Marik said, sounding happy Ryou was thinking about the spell. "His body should turn out the same either way."

_Don't do it, Landlord._

Ryou put the plastic box back inside the cardboard one, placing the figures on top of it. He looked at the spirit. _Why not? If it doesn't work, nothing happens,_ he thought. The possibility of the spell not working still pained him, but he was starting to think it might be better to just do it and find out for certain. _Don't you **want** a new body?_

_Of course I want a new body,_ the spirit said. _Which is why I don't want you wasting time on ineffective nonsense._

Ryou shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something to Marik, but was distracted by a crashing noise just outside the room. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Marik said.

The two ran out the door, stopping when they saw Shadi gripping the wall with one hand, looking like he could barely remain standing. The picture he'd knocked off the wall lay on the floor next to him. Ryou boggled at the large, black hole in his chest, wondering how he was even standing at all. After a few seconds, Ryou noticed that the man seemed to be fading in and out, going back and forth between his normal solid state and a sort of transparent one, like the spirit's.

"W-what happened?" Ryou asked, running over to him. Marik wasn't far behind him.

"The darkness," Shadi said. He let go of the wall to reach into his robes, legs giving out immediately after the attempt. Ryou and Marik held him up. Shadi retrieved the scale from his robes, handing it to Marik. "I can't protect it anymore. It's your duty now."

Marik looked ambivalent about this, but he took the scale, anyway. "Yeah."

Shadi nodded, then looked at Ryou. "Help him," he said, voice sounding like it was coming from a long distance away.

"I will," Ryou said.

Shadi appeared satisfied with this. "Don't let him have the scale," he said, voice fading out entirely toward the end. His form faded once more, then disappeared entirely, leaving Ryou and Marik holding thin air.

Ryou felt shocked. "Is... is he...?"

"Gone," Marik confirmed, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Good riddance," the spirit said.

Marik held the scale up, looking it over. "I'm not sure how easy it'll be to protect this thing from the Pharaoh..."

Ryou watched the scale move around without becoming unbalanced. "Maybe we don't need to," he said, a plan forming in his head.

"What?" Marik asked in complete disbelief. "We can't let him have it."

Ryou shook his head. "No, I mean... we've been trying to figure out a way to get him into the right position. What if we used it as bait?"

"You mean..." Marik walked back inside the room, Ryou and the spirit trailing after him. He put it down on a display case right next to the glass mirror. He looked around frantically. "We're all set up, right?"

"Yeah," Ryou said. "Do you think he'll come today?"

"If he's been seeking it today, he should be here within moments," the spirit said.

Ryou's eyes widened as he realized the spirit was right. "We _are_ done, right?" he asked Marik. "Where should we be?"

"Over here," Marik said, sitting behind the base of a large display case at the back.

Ryou knelt down next to him, pulling the spirit down as well.

"Really, it's not like he'll be able to see me," the spirit said.

"We shouldn't leave anything to chance," Ryou said.

The spirit grumbled, but stopped protesting. The three sat there in oppressive silence.

"How are we going to know he's in position?" Ryou whispered.

"Er..." Marik turned around, opening the back of the case to reveal the storage space inside. He poked open several holes Ryou knew were normally used for running cables into the case when needed. It gave them each a good view of the area the Pharaoh would be standing in.

They stared at the glass and the scale, waiting tensely. Marik took out the words of the spell and read them over silently.

As the minutes passed, Ryou started to wonder if the Pharaoh would really show up that day. He'd taken months to get the eye, after all. Then the scale creaked, one side slowly sliding downward, despite no one being anywhere near it. Ryou heard footsteps in the hallway, growing closer.

Marik sat up straight, clearly prepared to start speaking the spell.

'Yugi' walked into the room, a bag slung over his arm and the Millennium Ring held out in front of him. He caught sight of the scale and shoved the ring back in his bag. The scale thumped against the top of the case as he walked over to it and finally picked it up.

Marik started speaking the words of spell, and a whirlwind of energy flew around 'Yugi', who stood rooted to the spot. He looked toward them, the terrifying expression on his face making Ryou glad they currently had a barrier between them. Energy started crackling around the room like black lightning.

_Did that happen before? _Ryou thought, not wanting to distract Marik by saying it out loud.

_No,_ the spirit said. _But then, it didn't work properly before, did it?_

Marik finished saying the spell, and the three watched as the whirlwind continued, Yugi's body jerked in front of the glass like he was have some kind of seizure standing up. The glass turned completely black.

The storm died down, and Yugi collapsed on the floor, appearing to be unconscious. Ryou rushed over to him, relieved to find that he was still breathing.

Marik was right behind him. "Is he okay?"

"I think so," Ryou said. "I was really tired after I went through that, and I was okay afterwards..."

"Get away from him, Landlord," the spirit said.

Ryou blinked at him. "What? Why?" he asked, unnerved by the almost alarmed tone of the spirit's voice.

Marik pulled him back. "Look," he said, pointing at the scale, which was still severely unbalanced. He backed away, nearly running into the glass. "I don't thi..." Marik choked, falling over unconscious.

"Marik? Marik!" Ryou said, catching his friend as he fell. The cause was immediately apparent – small dark tendrils of smoke extended from the blackened glass, reaching toward the scale and Yugi's bag. One of them was crawling over Marik's back. Ryou scrambled to pull Marik away, setting him out of the way of the smoke.

"You need to get out of here _right now_," the spirit said, grabbing his arm when he turned to go back to Yugi.

Ryou shook him off. "I can't just leave him," he said, running back to his friend. He grabbed the scale and threw it to the far corner of the room. Some of the tendrils of smoke changed direction, moving to the new location. Ryou pulled Yugi a few more feet away to buy more time, then struggled to pull the bag off him.

"Landlord!"

Ryou turned to see dark tendrils speeding at him, only to be blocked by the spirit standing in front of him. The spirit collapsed right afterward.

Ryou stared at him in shock. "S-spirit?" The tendrils of smoke snapped at him, and this time Ryou was far too slow to get out of the way before they hit.

Ryou fell to the ground, the world fading around him.

He awoke what felt like it could have been anywhere from several seconds to several years later, body resting on... sand? _Huh? Where am I?_ Ryou sat up, looking at his surroundings. He quickly realized that the place was familiar. _It can't be, _he thought, standing up to get a better look.

But it only confirmed what Ryou already knew. He was standing in the village he'd seen in the vision all those months ago, without another soul in sight.


	22. A Ghost Town

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 21)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou tried not to panic. He knew where he was, he just didn't know where that place happened to be in relation to anything else. He remembered what had been going on just before he'd woken up on the ground and realized that he was probably in a dream.

Given the dreams he'd had about the village, Ryou didn't find that very comforting.

He took in his surroundings, noticing the sand blowing around in the wind, along with a black smoke very similar to what had come out of the mirror. The smoke originated somewhere in the distance, but Ryou couldn't make out where from his position. It smelled horrible, like burning flesh... _This is a very vivid dream, _Ryou thought uneasily. He tried to reassure himself with the fact that there was light outside, something that hadn't been true in the vision. He wasn't sure whether it was dusk or dawn, but either of those was far from the nighttime attack he remembered.

Ryou pivoted around to take a look at the area behind him and tripped over a dead body. "Ack!" he exclaimed, scrambling off of it as quickly as he could. The man's body was completely dried out, as though it had been mummified, face frozen in a horrified expression. He was wearing the uniform Ryou recognized as belonging to the Royal Guard. _At least he won't be able to attack anyone now,_ Ryou thought grimly. _But I still have to worry about whatever did that to __him__._

Ryou felt something cold brush across his back. He spun around, swearing he'd heard sick, distorted laughter in his ear. He tried to convince himself it was only the wind, but he kept seeing ghostly figures darting around just on the edge of his vision, disappearing whenever he tried to look at them straight on. Ryou forced himself to ignore them and think clearly about his situation.

_What happened to everyone else?_ Ryou wondered. _Were they brought here, too?_ He looked out into the distance and called out over his mental link. _Spirit?_

There was no response. Ryou had been expecting that – the spirit would probably have said something to him by now if it were possible. Ryou hoped he hadn't been hurt when the smoke had touched him.

Ryou turned around again. It was obvious that he wouldn't accomplish anything by staying where he was. There was no one else around, save the dead soldier. The question was which direction he should go in.

Ryou really had only two options – toward the source of the smoke, or away from it. Away from the smoke seemed likely to be safer, but less likely to provide him with answers to the many questions racing through his mind. If he wanted to get home, he would need to know what was going on.

Ryou sighed, starting to walk toward the smoke.

The path twisted around a corner, merging with a walkway from another direction. Ryou continued down the path, avoiding a few more dead bodies lying in the middle of the road. He stopped when he heard someone calling his name from behind. "Bakura, wait!"

Ryou turned to see Yugi running toward him from the fork in the road. At least, it seemed like Yugi. He didn't know whether he could believe it or not. Even if his friend had been freed by the ritual, he still couldn't know for certain whether any other people he met in this dream world were real or not. "Hey. Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Yugi panted. "Um. Where are we? How did we get here?"

"We're in the village we saw in the vision," Ryou said, realizing Yugi hadn't experienced what he, Marik, and the Pharaoh had. "And something weird happened after we forced the Pharaoh out of your body... if we even really managed that," Ryou added, wondering if the dark force that had come after them could really be the Pharaoh.

Yugi blinked. "You forced the Pharaoh out of my body?" he asked. "Why?"

"He was pretending to be you," Ryou said. "We don't know how long he was doing it," he continued apologetically, "but we couldn't just let him go on using your body."

"He was pretending to be me?" Yugi asked, though it sounded more like he'd just had a quesiton answered. "He's been in control a lot, lately," he said quietly. "It was getting a little weird, but I wasn't expecting that."

"When were you last in control?" Ryou asked.

Yugi frowned in confusion, rubbing his head. "I don't know. It's very fuzzy," he said. "It felt like I was in my soul room for a long time, but I can't measure time very well in there..."

Ryou knew the feeling well. "What's the last thing you remember happening?"

"Um," Yugi's face wrinkled in thought. "School, though I don't really remember what we were doing... Oh! Someone tried to break into your apartment a few days ago."

"Tried, or succeeded?" Ryou asked, fearing he already knew which it was.

"Tried," Yugi said. "They put a pole through your door, but couldn't get in."

Ryou winced. "That was over a month ago," he said, knowing exactly how it felt to wake up and realize that much time had simply gone missing. He felt horrible for having been fooled for so long. "I'm sorry."

"A month?" Yugi asked, visibly shocked. "It's really been more than a month?"

"Yeah," Ryou said, feeling guilty. "I didn't even know the Pharaoh could look that much like you. Marik figured out something was wrong last week..." Ryou went on to explain how they'd ended up where they were, including how the spirit hadn't really disappeared all those months ago. He'd thought about leaving it out for simplicity's sake, but quickly realized that he had no way of explaining how they had known about the eye without it. He left out everything relating to the 'deal' he'd made with the spirit, not wanting to get into it with Yugi right then, if ever.

"Wow," Yugi said when he was finished. "So he's just... been there, around you this whole time?"

"Yeah..." Ryou said, not sure what to make of Yugi's reaction. "You don't seem that upset."

"I'm not, really," Yugi said. "I might have been earlier, but the way the Pharaoh's been acting lately..." Yugi's expression grew uneasy. "He's been saying some crazy things. You would probably have been in danger if you told us the Spirit of the Ring was still with you."

"What sort of things was he saying?" Ryou asked, wondering if the Pharaoh had given Yugi any clue to his intentions.

"It wasn't anything that unusual at first," Yugi said. "He started getting more paranoid after that thing came out of the ring. He's always been a little..." Yugi made a vague gesture. "...but it got so much worse. He kept saying someone would come after the items, and he was the only one who could protect them."

"Did he say anything to you about the break-in?" Ryou asked.

"Not really," Yugi said, sighing a little. "That should have been my first clue – he was so obsessed with the safety of the items, but he didn't really seem to care about whoever tried to break into your place, even though that person might have been after the ring. Your safety wasn't important _at all,_" Yugi added, sounding somewhat angry.

"And your safety...?" Ryou asked, wondering just how far gone the Pharaoh was.

"I... I don't know," Yugi said quietly. "We were arguing right before he took over the last time. I didn't like that he was in control so often, especially since he wouldn't tell me what he was _doing_ during that time." He looked Ryou in the eyes. "Right in the middle of it, I had the thought that he was acting like the Spirit of the Ring always had with you, and suddenly I was locked in my soul room." Yugi's head dropped. "I don't know what got into him. It's like someone took all his worst qualities and shot them up to infinity."

"The vision we saw was horrible," Ryou said, thinking that it could well have sent the Pharaoh into more of a panic than anyone had realized. He glanced around them, half-expecting the dead soldiers to come back to life in order to terrorize them. "It was here, but it was worse than this."

"Worse than this?" Yugi asked, looking where Ryou had. "This is pretty bad..."

"Yeah," Ryou said. "We should try to get out of here as soon as possible. I was hoping to find something over there," he added, waving toward the mass of smoke dominating the middle of the village.

Yugi nodded. "Let's go."

The two continued down the path.

"Do you think the others are here?" Yugi asked.

"Maybe," Ryou said, not sure whether he should be hopeful or not. It felt safer having Yugi near him, and he knew that he would probably feel even safer with even more people around him, but he wasn't entirely confident that they could ever get out of the village. He didn't want to hope for others to be trapped with him.

"I wonder if--" Yugi stopped, eyes locked on a point somewhere off in the distance, not quite in the same direction they were headed. "I think I saw the Pharaoh!" he said, taking off down an alleyway.

"Hey, wait!" Ryou said, chasing after him. He followed Yugi as he ran between the buildings. "He's dangerous, you can't just--" Ryou stopped at the twisted intersection of several different paths, unable to see which one Yugi had taken. He looked down each one frantically, but Yugi had vanished.

Ryou sighed. The ghosts, which had kept their distance somewhat while he'd been with Yugi, now closed in on him again. _I guess I'll just have to stick to the plan without him,_ Ryou thought. _He knows where I want to go. Maybe he'll meet me there eventually._ Ryou once again took the path that seemed to be going toward the smoke.

The air got more oppressive as Ryou approached the center, the black particles making it more difficult to see into the distance and the smell making him feel nauseated. The number of dead bodies strewn along the path increased until he was never out of sight of at least one. He kept hearing strange, unsettling noises – sometimes it was just the wind, but other times it was definitely laughter, usually accompanied by the creepy feeling that someone was standing right behind him.

Ryou was starting to seriously reconsider his plan when he heard a new sound somewhere nearby. He listened carefully. _Is that... crying?_ Ryou followed the direction the sound seemed to be coming from, quickly finding himself in front of one of the houses. The noise was coming from inside. Ryou looked in through the empty, open doorway. It wasn't pitch black in the building, but between the air quality and the angle of the light outside, Ryou couldn't see much of anything.

He debated going inside. On the one hand, it might be someone he knew crying in there. It could be Yugi or Marik or... probably not the spirit, but the point still stood. On the other hand, it could also be a trick being played on him, by the ghosts stalking him or someone else wanting to lure him into a trap. Ryou shook his head, deciding that too much time with the spirit had made him paranoid. Even if it wasn't someone he knew, there was someone inside who needed help. He steeled his nerves, walking inside.

He took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the low lighting. "Hello?" he called out softly. "Is someone here?"

The crying was replaced by a combination of sniffling and hiccuping, as though the person was trying to stop, but couldn't manage it.

Ryou followed the sound through the tiny one-room house, stopping at the back door. A small flight of stone stairs, no bigger than four or five steps, led up to the path outside, but the crying didn't seem to be coming from out there. Ryou looked around the area, zeroing in on the stairs themselves. He looked at the side of the stairs, noticing a small hole in the top corner. He put his fingers in the hole, pulling the side piece away. It was surprisingly light, as though whoever had made it had intended for it to be easy to remove.

Removing the side piece revealed a crawl space with a small boy hiding inside. The terrified boy cowered away from Ryou, making himself as small as he could to fit into the very back of the small, cramped space. "Please don't kill me, please," the boy sobbed, his entire body shaking.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Ryou said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. He backed away from the opening a little, not wanting to intimidate the boy. _Did he just go through this...?_ Ryou thought, horror growing inside him. He'd seen children killed in the vision, but seeing a child who'd just been through the whole thing and survived was worse, in its own way.

The boy looked at him, expression alternating between fearful and hopeful. "You really aren't going to hurt me?"

"I promise," Ryou said.

The boy cautiously moved closer to the opening, looking at Ryou more closely. "Are we related?" he asked, catching sight of Ryou's hair. Now that Ryou could see the boy a little better, he could tell that his hair was a similar color, shining slightly even in the dark.

"I don't think so," Ryou said apologetically. When the boy's face fell, he almost wished he'd lied.

"Then they're really all dead," the boy said, starting to sob again. "My whole family. I'm the only one left."

Ryou didn't how to respond to that. He couldn't bring himself to say such an obviously hollow lie like _'it will be okay'_ or to get the boy's hopes up with something like _'maybe you aren't the only one who survived'_. What could he say to someone whose entire family had been slaughtered?

Ryou reached out one hand carefully, setting it down on the ground where the boy could take it if he wanted, but avoid it if it frightened him. "I'm sorry."

The boy stared at the hand uncertainly for a moment, still sniffling. He wiped his own hands on his tunic, then took Ryou's hand in his, hugging it to his chest after a few seconds. "You're really alive," he said.

"Yeah," Ryou said, wondering how long the boy had been under the stairs without seeing anyone.

"Your clothes are strange," the boy said, reaching out with his free hand to point at the blue stripes on Ryou's shirt.

Ryou didn't know what to make of the sudden shift in conversation, but at least the boy didn't seem as upset as he had been. "I'm not really from around here."

"Oh," the boy said. "What's your name?"

"My name is Ryou," he replied. "What's yours?"

"Akefia."

"Nice to meet you," Ryou said automatically, wondering afterward if it was the most appropriate thing he could have said, given the circumstances.

The boy didn't seem to mind. "Nice to meet you, too," he said.

"Are you ready to come out of there?" Ryou asked quietly, hoping he wasn't asking too soon.

"Will you stay with me?" the boy asked, hugging Ryou's hand even more tightly, as though afraid that Ryou would disappear if he didn't hold on well enough.

"I'll stay with you," Ryou promised. The boy crawled out from under the stairs, and Ryou immediately noticed that his tunic was soiled. Ryou supposed it wasn't that surprising. "We should get you something clean to wear," he said, looking around. He saw some rags sitting on a table, but no clothes.

"There's more stuff in there," the boy said, pointing at a small trunk in the corner.

Ryou walked over to it, never letting go of the boy's hand. He opened the trunk with his free hand, finding a few light blankets and a man's tunic. He took the tunic out, closed the trunk, and put the tunic on top of it.

"That's my father's," the boy said, looking down at the floor.

"I'm sure he'd want you to have clean clothes," Ryou said, rubbing the boy's hand.

The boy didn't say anything, but he allowed Ryou to help him take his soiled tunic off. Ryou cleaned him up as best as he could with what they had available, then put the clean tunic on him. The bottom of the tunic, which would have fallen to about knee-length on a man, fell just above the boy's ankles, and the sleeves fell past his hands. Ryou rolled up the sleeves until they were a more normal length.

"There," Ryou said when he was finished, patting the boy on the shoulder.

The boy sniffled, then grabbed Ryou in a sudden hug, clinging to him and sobbing into his chest.

Ryou was startled at first, but he quickly returned the hug, holding the boy close as he cried. He stroked the boy's hair, hoping he was being somewhat comforting.

Apparently he was, because the boy started to calm down. The boy cried for a little while longer before his sobs completely died down, his breathing slowly returning to normal. He continued to cling to Ryou even then.

Ryou was reluctant to push him away, but he knew that they couldn't stand there like that forever. They still in potential danger, if nothing else. He carefully disentangled himself from the boy, taking his hand again to keep him assured that he wasn't going to run off without him. He used the cleanest available rag to wipe off his face. "We should get going."

"They won't let me," the boy said quietly, sounding afraid.

"Who won't let you?" Ryou asked, looking around. _Maybe he means the soldiers. He might not know __they're all dead..._

"My family," the boy whispered. "They say I have to go to where their bodies were..." he trailed off, visibly sickened, looking as though he might start sobbing again.

Ryou rubbed the boy's back, thinking quickly. He'd assumed the boy had been hiding in that spot the whole time and wouldn't necessarily know what had happened to his family after they'd been killed, but what he'd just said seemed to contradict that. "Did you see what happened to their bodies?" he asked the boy, desperately hoping he hadn't. "Were you there?"

The boy shook his head, giving Ryou a few seconds of relief before destroying it. "I wasn't there, but they showed me what happened."

It might have just been his imagination, but Ryou could have sworn the ghostly presence was getting more active, swarming around them in greater numbers. "Showed you? Like in a vision?"

The boy nodded, starting to sniffle again. "The soldiers took their bodies and... a-and... m-melted them... Th-they m-made my f-family into... into..." The boy looked like he couldn't breathe.

"I know," Ryou said, kneeling down to hug the boy again.

The boy hugged him back gratefully, taking a few moments to steady his breathing before replying. "They want revenge."

"Who wants revenge?" Ryou asked, though he already knew the answer.

"My family. They want me to k-kill the Pharaoh and his family," the boy said, sobbing into Ryou's shoulder. "I don't want to kill anyone."

"You don't have to," Ryou assured him. He felt the atmosphere around him grow tense, even angry after he said it. He had the unnerving feeling that countless pairs of eyes were staring at him in utter hatred. He would have glared back at them if he could. Wanting revenge was one thing, but what kind of people would show a thing like that to a child, or tell him to go _kill_ someone for them?

"They say that I have to, or they can't rest," the boy said. "They k-keep sh-showing me what happened to them. I'm the only one who didn't d-die, so it has to be m-me."

"You don't have to kill anyone," Ryou repeated firmly. "Let's get out of here," he added, standing back up and retaking the boy's hand. He walked to the door, deciding that whatever his earlier plan may have been, he was going to take the boy as far from the smoking ruins as possible. He didn't know why the boy's family wanted him to go there, unless the Pharaoh was already there and they expected him to somehow kill their hated enemy then and there. He didn't know how they expected a little boy to accomplish this, but he wasn't about to let that happen.

"They won't let us," the boy said, though he followed Ryou out the door, gripping his hand tightly.

"I don't see how they can... stop..." Ryou trailed off weakly as he looked at the path going away from the center of the village.

A wall of ghosts blocked the way, faces distorted and angry. The wall continued up over the houses in a semi-circle, emphasizing the fact that there was only one direction left to go in. Ryou moved to go back inside the house they'd just come out of, but the door was already blocked off.

"I'm not taking him there," Ryou said to the ghosts.

He felt something brush against his shoulder, whispering distantly in his ear. "..._don't have a choice_..."

Ryou stood there, trying to figure out a course of action. _Can they hurt me?_ _Can they hurt __**him**__?_ Ryou wondered, looking at the boy. The boy was looking back up at him, expression all but begging Ryou to keep him safe.

Meanwhile, the wall of ghosts had begun moving forward slowly. The boy tugged on Ryou, trying to go toward the open part of the path. "We have to go," he said urgently.

"We can't go that way, either," Ryou told him.

"You can't let them touch you," the boy said, clearly afraid.

"Why n--" Ryou didn't actually finish his question, but one of the ghosts answered it for him anyway, laughing cruelly as it put a hand through him, sending him into a vision of the soldiers and the cauldron. It was like what he'd seen in the vision all those months ago, only this time it was from the point of view of one of the bodies being melted...

"Ryou! Wake up!" the boy pleaded frantically, shaking his shoulders. "Wake up, please!"

Ryou shuddered violently as he opened his eyes, realizing that he'd fallen to the ground. He looked up to see the boy kneeling over him, the ghosts still standing around them in a semi-circle. "Thanks," he said to the boy. He stood up.

The boy clung to his arm instead of his hand this time, clearly frightened by seeing him collapse. "We have to go that way," he said miserably.

"I guess we do," Ryou said, moving forward to avoid being touched by one of the ghosts again. He looked around and saw the ghosts smiling horribly at his cooperation. "Let's go." He pulled the boy along the path with him, not wanting him to experience a vision like that again either.

Ryou hoped that he could figure out a way out of the current situation before they reached wherever the ghosts were taking them. Barring that, he hoped that the place wasn't as dangerous or horrifying as he thought it was.

But Ryou knew one thing for sure: he wasn't about to let the ghosts do anything to the boy next to him, and he certainly wasn't going to let them force him to kill anyone.


	23. The Older And The Younger

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 22)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou and the boy continued their slow, steady march toward the center of the village. The ghosts didn't rush them, seeming satisfied as long as they continued down along the path, however slowly they were actually doing it. The boy continued to cling to his arm, as though he thought that the closer he stayed to Ryou, the safer he would be.

After they'd been walking for an indeterminate amount of time, Ryou noticed the ghosts getting restless. It made him uneasy, but they seemed to be focused on something outside the semi-circle they'd formed around Ryou and the boy.

At one point, the wall of ghosts stopped moving entirely, all of them turning around to look at something on the other side, but all Ryou could make out was a basic human form. He wondered if it was someone he knew or another resident of the dream world. Ryou saw the form climb over a building on the side of the path, disappearing from his field of vision. Some of the ghosts broke away to follow it, leaving the wall a little thinner.

Ryou considered using the opportunity to try and get away, but he immediately discounted the idea. The wall was still big enough to stop them from getting past, and even if they made it to the other side, the ghosts were much faster than they were. It would only take one touch to send one or both of them back into an even more terrifying nightmare.

The wall resumed moving forward, forcing them to keep going down the path.

Soon they were within sight of the smoking remains of the village center. The air was too cloudy for Ryou to really make out what was going on, if anything, but he could tell that the smoke was simply hovering in the air now, not coming from any active source on the ground.

Ryou heard a sudden _thud!_ to his side and spun around. The boy hid behind him, clearly fearful of whoever had just jumped down off the building and landed next to them.

"I should have known you would do something this foolish," the spirit said. The ghosts who had broken away earlier floated down to rejoin the wall, which had halted again.

"I'm doing the only thing I _can_ do," Ryou protested, feeling very relieved to see the spirit again. Even if the spirit couldn't protect him from anything, Ryou was glad to know that he was... well, not _alive_, maybe, but at least not destroyed. He looked the spirit over, wanting to see if he'd been injured in any way, and he noticed something odd. "Why are you solid?" he asked, noting that the spirit was also more tan than he would have expected.

"Because this world isn't real," the spirit told him.

The boy chose that moment to peek out at the spirit from behind Ryou's arm. "What do you mean it's not real?"

"I mean exactly that," the spirit said, tone more menacing than Ryou thought it should be. "None of this is real. Not the village, not them," the spirit continued, waving at the ghosts, "and not _you_. We're trapped in a memory."

"I'm real!" the boy said, sounding upset.

Ryou patted his shoulder comfortingly, not sure what to say. As far as he knew, the spirit was right about the world they were in not being real, but he still didn't think the spirit should just declare that right in front of a little boy.

"Do you have any idea how we can get out of here?" Ryou asked, hoping the spirit's knowledge extended that far.

"I have an idea," the spirit said. "However you managed it, you were going in the right direction," he added. He grabbed Ryou's free arm, trying to pull him away from the boy. "Come on. We should get going. Just leave him here."

"No!" the boy cried out, clinging to Ryou for dear life.

"It's okay," Ryou assured him. "I'm not leaving you here." He glared at the spirit. He'd known the spirit was cold, but this was something else.

"He's _not real_, Landlord," the spirit said. "It doesn't matter what you do. When this nightmare ends, he'll disappear either way."

"I don't want to d-disappear!" the boy said, starting to cry again.

Ryou leaned down to hug him. "Don't say things like that!" Ryou told the spirit angrily. He might have been right about the boy disappearing when the dream was over – it certainly sounded logical – but he still didn't want the boy to hear it.

"It's important," the spirit said just as angrily. He was directing a disgusted expression at the boy, who fortunately couldn't see it with his face buried in Ryou's shirt. "If we're ever threatened by something, you can't be wasting time and energy protecting someone who doesn't matter."

"He matters," Ryou said adamantly, wishing he could cover the boy's ears while they had this discussion, but finding he couldn't easily manage it in the position they were in.

"Really?" the spirit asked, tone full of contempt. "And just what do you intend to do with him?"

"What?" Ryou asked. "I intend to keep him safe," he said, thinking it should have been obvious.

"For how long?" the spirit demanded. "For the rest of his life?"

Ryou hadn't thought that far ahead. "I... I don't know. For as long as it's necessary. Until we can find someone to take care of him."

The spirit laughed bitterly. "No one is going to take care of him, Landlord. He's a pathetic orphan who claims his town was destroyed by the Pharaoh's men."

"But it was!" the boy sobbed, voice muffled by Ryou's chest.

"It doesn't matter," the spirit said. "Not a single person will ever believe you."

The boy's sobbing grew stronger.

Ryou hugged him more tightly. "_I_ believe him," he said to the spirit.

The spirit looked at him silently for a few moments before responding. "What are you going to do? Raise him yourself?"

"Yes," Ryou decided, getting sick of the argument. "If there's no one else to take care of him, I'll do it myself." He ignored the fact that the boy might well not be able to come back with them for the moment. He'd find a way. He wasn't going to up and abandon a small child who'd just lost everything.

"So, what? You intend to simply take him back to your apartment and keep him there?" the spirit asked dubiously. "What about your father?"

"He probably wouldn't notice," Ryou said, thinking that he could probably run an entire orphanage out of their apartment without his father catching on. Ryou hadn't even told him about the hole in the wall yet. "He gives me enough money to feed two people."

"That's not... This is ridiculous," the spirit said. "You have no way of caring for him. You should let him go now so he can learn to fend for himself."

"No," Ryou said. He noticed that the ghost wall was moving again, albeit more slowly than it had before. "We need to get moving," he told the boy.

The boy turned his head to look at the ghosts, then nodded, still sniffling. He grabbed on to Ryou's arm and followed him forward. The spirit walked next to them.

"How did you find me?" Ryou asked. "Can you still hear my thoughts?"

"No," the spirit replied. "I followed the line of ghosts. I assumed you had gotten yourself into trouble yet again, and I was correct."

"How did you know I was in there?" Ryou protested. "It could have just been a part of the memory."

"Because there wasn't-" the spirit stopped whatever he'd been about to say. "It seemed out of place, and I'm well aware of how reckless you are."

"He's not reckless!" the boy said, glaring at the spirit from Ryou's side. "He's brave."

Ryou gave a small smile to his defender.

"What would _you_ know about bravery?" the spirit demanded, tone full of disdain. "You didn't even _try_ to help your family while they were being slaughtered."

Ryou looked at the spirit in shock as the boy started crying into his arm. "How could you say something like that?" He stroked the boy's hair awkwardly with his free hand. "It's okay..." he said softly. "There was nothing you could do."

"He could have tried," the spirit said.

"He's a little boy!" Ryou said, almost unable to believe what he was hearing. "They'd have killed him!"

"Then he could have _died_!"

The three stood frozen to the spot after the spirit's outburst, surrounded by ghostly laughter.

The boy was the first to speak up. "I didn't want to die," he sobbed. "I don't want to die..."

"You don't have to die," Ryou assured him. He picked the boy up, finding him to be lighter than he expected. The boy wrapped his arms around Ryou's neck, crying into his shoulder. Ryou glared at the spirit. "Stop saying things like that!"

"They're true," the spirit said, tone full of anger and loathing. "He could have died with the rest of his family, but he was too _scared_."

"Of course he was scared!" Ryou said. "So were all the people that died. It's not his fault!"

"He _chose_ to run away," the spirit said. "He _chose_ to hide under the stairs like the coward that he is. How is it _not_ his fault that he's still breathing?"

"That-" Ryou started to object, then stopped, the spirit's words playing back in his head and sounding... off, somehow. "How did you know he was hiding under the stairs?"

The spirit's eyes widened almost imperceptibly in surprise for a second before returning to normal. He looked away, glaring at the smoke not so far in the distance. "I saw it in your mind."

"You said you can't hear my thoughts anymore," Ryou replied, mind spinning to try and figure out how the spirit _really_ knew.

"I was lying," the spirit told him.

"What number am I thinking of right now?" Ryou asked, not even bothering to come up with one.

"This is absurd," the spirit said, crossing his arms. "What does it matter how I knew?"

Ryou stared at the spirit, the question only making him more curious about what the spirit was hiding. Maybe he'd come across the boy first and had simply left him there? But the boy hadn't recognized him, and Ryou couldn't see the spirit really caring if Ryou knew that had happened. Ryou's mind scrambled to fit the pieces together. How did the spirit know so much about the village? How could he know what was going on in other parts of the... _memory_...?

"Oh," Ryou breathed, not sure he could believe it. He glanced back and forth between the spirit and the boy in his arms. The hair, the skin... He fixed his gaze on the spirit. "He... You're him, aren't you? And he's you. This all happened to _you,_" Ryou said, horrified.

The ghosts around them laughed even louder than before.

"Landlord..." the spirit said through gritted teeth.

"Your whole family," Ryou continued, horror growing the more he thought about it, especially considering what the spirit had just been saying to the boy. "And you were here all alone..."

"What are you talking about?" the boy sniffled up at him, confused.

"Don't worry about it," Ryou said, stroking his hair. He looked at the spirit again, feeling a sympathy he never imagined he could have for him. "No wonder you wanted to kill the Pharaoh."

"I still intend to kill him," the spirit said.

Ryou shook his head, but he found he couldn't bring himself to argue against the idea at the moment. "How did you survive without anyone around to help you?" Ryou asked, realizing he wouldn't have been around to get the spirit out of the crawl space or clean him up.

The spirit didn't say anything at first, glowering at everything around them. "They forced me to come out," he said finally, gesturing at the ghosts. "I went to the site of the cursed ritual and received the power to defeat the Pharaoh. Then I followed the High Priest as he crawled to the nearest village and claimed he'd been attacked by bandits."

"The power to defeat the Pharaoh?" Ryou asked.

"Yes. Though I wouldn't be able to use it for over a decade," the spirit replied.

"But you haven't defeated the Pharaoh," Ryou pointed out, moving forward again as he felt the ghosts closing in on them.

"Not yet," the spirit replied softly.

The ghosts drove them to the top of a stairway leading down into the ground. Ryou couldn't see where it led. "Is it safe to go down there?" he asked the spirit.

"Of course not," the spirit replied, walking down the steps anyway.

Ryou looked from the ghosts to the stairs, quickly deciding that he'd rather deal with the unknown, especially if staying above ground meant being separated from the spirit again. He began carrying the boy carefully down the steps, but the boy stopped him, sliding out of his arms to stand on the ground himself. He looked up at Ryou. "You said I'm him."

"Um..." Ryou said, not sure what to tell the boy. He hadn't liked hearing the spirit say he wasn't real.

"I don't want to be him," the boy said. "He's mean."

"You don't have to be him," Ryou said, but he wondered if they really had any way of changing how things turned out. It was a memory, after all, not reality. He had a bit of hope, though, since he knew the boy would have been alone originally. Maybe being there could make a difference, even if it was only in a dream.

They walked down the stairs.

* * *

The journey to the bottom seemed to take forever, but it was probably only a few minutes in reality. Ryou and the boy quickly caught up with the spirit, and they continued their descent in silence. The oppressive smell permeating the village grew worse as they went lower. There was only the occasional torch on the wall to light the way, making it difficult to see. The only really positive thing was that the ghosts didn't seem to be following them, though Ryou was sure if they went back up the stairs that they'd find them there, waiting for them.

The boy stayed close to his side, holding his hand as they walked. Ryou found it difficult to think of the boy as a younger version of the spirit, and he kept comparing the two in his mind, struggling to figure out how he could have gone from such an affectionate boy to... what he was then. There was the obvious, of course, but the boy next to him had just gone through that as well, and if anything he seemed to be desperate for someone to be kind to him and take care of him.

Ryou thought about what the spirit had said about there being no one willing to take the boy in, and imagined him being rejected over and over again by everyone he came across, people scorning him for telling the truth about what had happened to his family. He thought about the boy telling himself the same things the spirit had been telling him earlier, torturing himself for years. He imagined the boy waiting all alone under those stairs, harassed by the ghosts of his family and friends, only with no one to come and rescue him...

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ryou scooped the boy up into a hug, feeling the strong urge to pour as much affection on him as he possibly could. The boy eagerly returned the hug, but the spirit glowered at them from a few feet away, as though he knew what Ryou was thinking despite not being able to read his mind. Ryou only looked back at him, feeling the beginnings of an urge to hug him, too, but knowing it wouldn't be welcome just then.

"Are you finished, Landlord?" the spirit asked impatiently.

Ryou let go of the boy, knowing they had to keep going. He looked at the area they were standing in, seeing a short hallway that ended with a doorway on the left side. "Is it safe for him to come with us?" Ryou asked, though he was aware that he wasn't asking the most helpful or unbiased person for an opinion on the matter. It still felt like he had to say _something_.

The spirit walked toward the doorway. "Not unless you want him to see what's left of everyone he ever knew," he said, his tone almost completely emotionless. Ryou couldn't see his face.

The boy made a soft, pained noise, but didn't say anything. Ryou looked down at his fearful, uncertain face and tried to figure out what to do. Ryou finally decided to bring the boy closer to the doorway, but not let go through it until he'd checked it out himself. He joined the spirit at the end of the hallway, making sure to keep the boy from seeing anything in the next room.

The spirit was already there, glaring at the room. "This is not how it should be."

"What do you mean?" Ryou asked, looking through the opening at the gory remains of the spell. The cauldron sat partially tipped over next to a giant rock on the floor. The rock had shapes carved into it that Ryou recognized as being the same as the Millennium Items, though the items themselves were nowhere in sight. There was an upsetting amount of leftover... _liquid_ in the cauldron, as well as some that had spilled over onto the rock. It was horrible, but he couldn't say any of it was unexpected.

"This doesn't match my memory," the spirit told him.

"Which part of it doesn't match?" Ryou asked.

"Zorc isn't here."

"Who or what is Zorc?" Ryou asked, getting annoyed at the way the spirit was refusing to simply tell him straightforwardly.

"He's the entity that was summoned by the creation of the items," the spirit told him, walking into the room to get a better look around. "Or as you like to think of him, the _purple thing_."

Ryou's eyes widened as he remembered what they'd inadvertently summoned all those months ago. "That thing was here?" he asked. "You had to meet that thing when you were...?" Ryou trailed off.

The spirit turned to scowl at him. "Stop being so... _sympathetic_," he said, disgusted. "And yes, I met him then." He walked over to the rock. "Part of him was hovering here."

"Only part?" Ryou asked. He put the boy next to the door and rubbed his arms. "Stay here. I won't go far," he told him.

The boy looked scared of the idea of being separated, but he nodded.

Ryou walked through the door to take a closer look at the rock. He tried to avoid looking at the globs of gold mixed with flesh, but they were spattered all over the place, making it difficult. Looking around the room, he saw more dead soldiers scattered around the floor, clearly having been attempting to flee something – presumably Zorc, as the spirit had called him. "Why was only part of him here?" Ryou asked again. "Did the spell fail?"

"Not exactly," the spirit replied. "The spell needed to complete the Millennium Items was successful. That fool of a High Priest managed to begin the spell needed to summon Zorc purely by accident, but he didn't fully complete it."

Ryou shuddered, looking at the damage the entity had caused while only partially summoned. "What would have happened if he'd been fully summoned?"

"The end of the world," the spirit said, sounding unconcerned by the possibility.

Ryou wasn't that surprised by the answer, but he still felt horrified by the image of the destroyed village expanding to encompass the whole world. "How did the priest _accidentally_ summon him?" Ryou asked, wondering if there was something he should be taking care to avoid doing.

"He united the items in the stone," the spirit replied. "That was enough for Zorc to appear, but fortunately the High Priest was enough of a power-hungry idiot that he wouldn't leave without taking the items with him."

Ryou couldn't imagine sticking around to pull the items out of the stone while people were dying all around him, but then he couldn't imagine slaughtering an entire village to create powerful artifacts, either. "So he removed the items from the stone, and that stopped Zorc from being fully summoned?"

"Yes," the spirit said, walking around the stone as though expecting to find what he was looking for if only he stood in the right place. "And then Zorc was stuck _here_, partially summoned. He should be here now."

"Maybe we're too early?" Ryou suggested. "If you stayed in your hiding place longer the first time..." he found himself unable to continue under the spirit's furious glare.

"He was stuck here," the spirit said angrily. "However long I took to get here, he couldn't have gone anywhere else. That's why he needed me."

"Needed you?" Ryou asked, not liking the sound of that.

"He needed someone in our world to summon him back," the spirit said.

Ryou took a moment to process what the spirit was saying. When he realized what that meant, he ran over to the spirit and grabbed the front of his shirt. "Is that what you were trying to do with the items?"

The spirit grabbed his hands and tried to shove them away, but Ryou was too determined to hold on. "Yes, that is what I was trying to do with the items," he said, face unreadable.

"Why?" Ryou asked.

"For revenge against the Pharaoh," the spirit said, letting go of Ryou's hands and simply letting him hold on to his shirt.

"That's not just the Pharaoh!" Ryou protested. "That's everyone!"

"As far as I was concerned, _everyone_ had already been destroyed," the spirit said, the undercurrent of rage starting to become visible on his face. "I came here and was promised a way to get revenge on the Pharaoh, in exchange for my own promise to summon Zorc back into the world."

"But..." Ryou looked over at the doorway, but he couldn't see the boy from where he was standing. Ryou just couldn't imagine him making a deal like that. "Why? Why would you make a deal with something summoned by the slaughter of your whole family?" If anything, Ryou thought, the spirit should have hated Zorc just as much as the Pharaoh. It didn't make sense to him at all.

"My _whole family_, as you put it, was in favor of the deal," the spirit told him, gesturing toward the doorway and the stairs on the other side of the wall. "And I was too weak and pitiful to do anything against the Pharaoh on my own."

Ryou remembered the way the ghosts had pushed them here and realized the spirit was right. His family _had_ not only been in favor of the deal, they'd all but forced him into it. He looked up at the spirit's face, unable to find the right words to say.

The spirit started to look uncomfortable under his gaze. "Stop _looking_ at me like that," he said, unsuccessfully trying to hide his discomfort with an angry tone. He shoved Ryou away, harder this time.

Ryou fell to the ground, then scrambled back up immediately, frantically checking his body to make sure he hadn't gotten any of the liquid spattered all over the area on himself. Fortunately, all he'd gotten on himself was dirt and grime. He turned to say something to the spirit when the boy ran into the room, hiding behind him.

"There's someone coming down the stairs," the boy whispered.

Ryou pressed the boy's head against his shirt, hoping he hadn't seen too much. "Did someone come down here originally?" he asked the spirit.

"No, I was the only one," the spirit replied, moving to stand next to the doorway. Ryou walked to a point a few feet behind him, using him as a shield much the way the boy was using him.

After a few moments, Ryou heard footsteps coming from the stairwell. They grew louder and louder, until whoever it was paused at the bottom of the steps. Ryou's mind raced. It couldn't be Zorc – somehow he didn't imagine Zorc having such normal-sounding footsteps, if he even needed to walk at all. He wondered if it was Yugi... or the Pharaoh. The boy clung to him.

The person resumed their walk toward the door, footsteps echoing around the hallway. Ryou saw someone wander into the room, looking toward the cauldron, then surveying the rest of the room. "Ah!" the person shouted when he saw the spirit standing right next to him. "Gah. Don't _do_ things like that. You almost scared me to death."

"Marik?" Ryou asked, looking out from behind the spirit.

"You know him?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, I know him," Ryou said. "He's safe," he assured the boy.

"Who's that?" Marik asked, looking at the boy curiously.

"He's nothing but a figment of a memory," the spirit said, glaring at Ryou as though to warn him off of saying anything more specific.

"I don't think I've ever seen this many people with that color hair in the same room at the same time," Marik commented, coming over to take a closer look at the boy.

The boy avoided his gaze, moving so that Ryou was between him and Marik again, just barely peeking out from his hiding place. Ryou rubbed the boy's hand where it clung to his shirt. "It's okay, he won't hurt you."

Marik looked at Ryou in concern. "Did he see...?"

"Yeah. That was his family," Ryou said, unable to help a pained look at the spirit.

Marik noticed his glance and looked back forth between the spirit and the boy, then at Ryou for confirmation. Ryou nodded. Marik gaped. "Oh."

"Yes, it's all very tragic," the spirit said irritably, avoiding either Marik or Ryou's eyes. He turned his glare on the boy, who glared back at him fearfully. "But it has nothing to do with getting us out of this mess."

"Are you sure about that?" Ryou asked. "We don't even know why we're here. What if Zorc wants something from you?"

"Zorc?" Marik asked, perplexed.

"Oh. Right." Seeing that the spirit wasn't going to say anything, Ryou explained what he'd just been told about Zorc and the items.

"If Zorc were summoned here, would it effect the real world?" Marik asked the spirit.

"Yes," the spirit replied. "Particularly as the items are all together in the real world right now. I had been working on a plan that involved a similar world, back when I still intended to summon him myself."

"Why did you change your mind?" Ryou asked. He hadn't thought about it before, but while the spirit's reasoning behind wanting to summon Zorc didn't make that much sense, it didn't seem like that had anything to do with why he no longer wanted to do it. He'd said not that long ago that he still intended to get revenge on the Pharaoh.

The spirit scowled, but didn't reply.

"Well?" Marik asked.

"I discovered that he'd put a fragment of himself inside me," the spirit said reluctantly.

"What?" Ryou and Marik said simultaneously.

"You mean the fragment that was in the ring?" Ryou asked, pieces fitting together in his mind.

"Yes," the spirit said, clearly still furious about it. "Only it wasn't always inside the ring. It was originally inside _me_. I agreed to help him rain destruction down upon my enemies – I did _not_ agree to be possessed."

Ryou felt a twinge of annoyance at the spirit's anger at being possessed, but he'd already known the spirit was a hypocrite. The annoyance was quickly drowned out by distress at the thought of the boy next to him being possessed by the entity. "Wait, so he possessed you the way you possessed me?" he asked the spirit while stroking the boy's hair.

"Not quite," the spirit said. "He never fully took control of me the way I did you. But I can see now how he may have been... influencing my mind."

"Your mind?" Ryou repeated softly. In it's own way the idea was worse than what the spirit had done to him – at least his mind had remained his own, untouched, while the spirit roamed around in his body. Even if the spirit could hear his every thought, he'd never been able to do anything to his mind directly.

"Yes," the spirit said, crossing his arms. "My mind. Preventing me from considering actions that would have benefit me, but not him. Taking thoughts and feelings that were useful to him and making them stronger."

"Like strengthening an obsession with having the items?" Ryou asked, thinking about someone other than the spirit just then.

"Precisely," the spirit said.

"I..." Ryou wasn't sure he should voice the thought he'd just had. "I think the Pharaoh may have been possessed. Yugi said it was like someone took all his bad qualities and made them even worse..."

"Yugi? When were you talking to Yugi?" Marik asked.

"Er..." Ryou sheepishly explained his encounter with Yugi.

"You could have said something about this earlier, Landlord," the spirit complained.

"Hey, there's been a lot going on. And it's not like you don't keep things from me," Ryou replied, head still spinning at all the things he'd found out about the spirit that day. "But is it possible? Could the Pharaoh be possessed?"

"Yes, it's possible," the spirit said. "Given what happened during the ritual, I would even say it's likely."

"But how?" Ryou asked. "When did it happen?"

"Maybe it was when the Pharaoh took over Yugi's body," Marik said. "Wasn't that around the time Shadi told you the items had been 'stolen'?"

"It was," Ryou agreed. "But I think that was just because the Pharaoh had taken over Yugi's body for good. Yugi said the Pharaoh had been acting weird since..." Ryou put a hand to his face, feeling stupid. "...since we accidentally called Zorc out." A sudden shock ran through him. "I... When he came out of the ring, I knocked the bowl of water over, and it all went on the Pharaoh. Could that have...?"

Ryou's shock was mirrored in Marik's face. "It might have," he said quietly.

"This is all my fault," Ryou said, falling to his knees and hiding his face in his hands.

He felt a small pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. "It's not your fault," the boy said.

"How would you know?" the spirit demanded. "You don't even know what we're talking about."

"It doesn't matter," the boy said stubbornly, hugging Ryou more tightly.

Ryou felt another hand on his arm and looked up to see Marik standing next to him. "We can't know it was your fault, and even if it was, you still had to stop him from whatever damage he might have done _then_."

Ryou nodded, though he still terrible about it. "I suppose."

"None of this matters," the spirit said impatiently. "We have to deal with the problem we have now."

Ryou found he could agree with that. "What does Zorc have to do to resurrect himself?"

"He'll have to find all the items and bring them here," the spirit replied. "Then he'll require a sacrifice."

"How can he do that if he hasn't been fully revived yet?" Marik wondered. "Do you think he still has control of the Pharaoh?"

"He resisted far more during the ritual today than during the first one," the spirit said. "He may have been able to keep himself within the Pharaoh's soul as he was cast out."

Ryou was unhappy to hear that, especially now that he knew it was probably his fault, but there was something else bothering him just then. "You said he would need a sacrifice..." he said, fearing what that might mean.

"Yes, but it can't be someone he kills himself," the spirit said. "It must be a willing murder or suicide on the part of someone else."

Ryou shivered, wondering how the spirit had intended to fulfill that part of the spell. Had he planned to kill the Pharaoh and use that as the murder? Had he planned to kill someone else and watch the Pharaoh suffer through the end of the world? Or had he been planning on the suicide option? Before that day, Ryou would have never thought the spirit could consider something like that, but now he wasn't so sure. He thought it better not to ask, though.

"So he'll have to get the items," he said instead. "You said the High Priest took them, right? So we should try to get to him first."

"But what if he already has the items?" Marik pointed out. "He'd come here to put them in the stone, and we wouldn't be around to stop him."

Ryou had to admit he had a point. "But if we wait here, we're leaving it to the last possible moment to stop him."

"Well..." Marik looked thoughtful. "We could split up?" he suggested, not looking very thrilled by his own idea.

"No," the spirit said. "I have a better idea," he added, walking to the stairs without further comment.

"I guess we should follow him?" Marik said, walking after the spirit, but waiting for Ryou before starting on the stairs.

Ryou nodded. "We have to see what he's doing, if nothing else." He stood back up, unwrapping the boy's arms and taking his hand. He joined Marik in the stairway. The boy walked between them, seeming to have decided that Marik was safe be around.

They climbed the stairs to the top in short order, everyone relieved to be above ground when they were finished.

The spirit was waiting for them when they got there. "Took you long enough."

"You still haven't said what you intend to do," Ryou said. He saw the ghosts lined up around the entrance, blocking their only way out.

The spirit turned to address the ghosts. "We are going after the Pharaoh." The ghosts started laughing uproariously, faces twisted in unearthly grins. "If he comes here before we get to him, keep him trapped for us. Don't let him go down there."

For a moment, Ryou was certain the spirit's idea wasn't going to work, but then the ghosts cleared a path for them. The four of them walked through the opening, which quickly closed once they were on the other side. "Which way should we go?" Ryou asked.

"That way," the spirit said, pointing in a seemingly random direction. "The High Priest should be crawling in that direction right about now."

Ryou squinted off into the direction the spirit had pointed. He thought he could see tracks in the sand that disappeared behind a building, but his mind may have been playing tricks on him. He sighed. "Let's go."

The four walked off into the distance.


	24. Between A Rock And A Hard Place

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 23)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou, Marik, and the boy followed the spirit through the village. The spirit walked steadily ahead of them, seeming to want to get the whole thing over with as quickly as possible. The boy wasn't as eager to go forward, and his grip on Ryou's hand got tighter and tighter as they got closer to their destination. He stopped altogether at one point, looking down at the sandy ground.

Ryou stopped too, turning back to look at him. "Is something wrong?" he asked, wishing there were a less stupid-sounding way to phrase the question. Of course something was wrong. Everything was wrong.

"We're going to find _him_," the boy said quietly. "The one who..."

Ryou knelt down so he could see the boy's face, not surprised by the terrified expression he found there. "It'll be okay," Ryou said. "We'll stop him from hurting anyone else."

"How?" the boy asked, hugging Ryou's arm.

"Um." Ryou hadn't really thought about that. He'd mostly assumed the spirit had some sort of plan. He frowned, hoping it wasn't something overly violent. He didn't want the boy to have to witness yet another murder that day, even if it was of the man responsible for killing everyone he held dear.

The thought became a little surreal when Ryou realized that he was trying protect the boy from seeing possible violence committed by an older version of himself, but it didn't change how he felt about it.

"He's already weak," Ryou told the boy, wondering exactly how true his own statement really was. He knew that the High Priest was currently crawling away, which suggested he'd been pretty badly injured, but then the High Priest was actually crawling away with all seven Millennium Items in his possession, which was another matter entirely. "We're just going to take away his only way of hurting other people."

"But how are you going to take it from him?" the boy asked.

"Well, he's a really good thief," Ryou said, pointing at the spirit, who was stopped some distance away from them. "He should be able to do it." The spirit looked back at them with his arms crossed. Marik said something to him that Ryou didn't hear, but whatever it was seemed to annoy the spirit even more. "We should go. We need to get to him as fast as possible."

"Right," the boy said, sounding scared, but determined.

Ryou walked him over to the others.

"Are you done having your little moment?" the spirit asked impatiently.

The boy squeezed Ryou's hand. Ryou looked down and saw the boy peeking out from behind his arm, giving the spirit a challenging look. For the first time, Ryou saw a distinct link between the two, one that was only strengthened when he looked back at the spirit and saw the exact same look on his face. The spirit and the boy continued to glare at each other, showing no signs of stopping any time soon.

Marik snickered.

Ryou sighed. "We can't just stand here," he said. He patted the boy's shoulder, ready to start walking again. He was immediately distracted by the spirit.

"Stop coddling him," the spirit ordered. Ryou could hear the strain beneath the anger, and when he looked in the spirit's eyes he could see intense discomfort hiding there. "He's perfectly capable of walking without you holding his hand."

The boy looked down at the ground.

"I like holding his hand," Ryou replied, rubbing the boy's hand to reassure him.

The spirit glowered at him. "This is ridiculous," he said, moving to stand right in front of Ryou. "Let go of his hand right now."

The boy hid fully behind Ryou, still gripping his hand tightly.

"No," Ryou said. He refused to let the spirit intimidate him. "What does it even matter to you if I hold his hand?" he asked, feeling genuinely curious, but not really expecting a helpful answer. He wondered if seeing him holding the boy's hand reminded the spirit of how helpless he used to be, but it seemed like the boy himself should do that far more than the hand-holding.

"It doesn't matter to me," the spirit said, glaring at the boy from over Ryou's shoulder. "It's just annoying."

"You'll just have to live with being annoyed," Ryou said. He almost thought that it was about time for the spirit to put up with someone annoying him, but it was obvious to him that there was something more than normal annoyance behind the spirit's words.

"I have no intention of 'just living' with anything," the spirit said, grabbing Ryou's hand by the wrist. He reached for the boy's hand, clearly intending to separate them. "I'm putting a stop to this right-" he choked on his words, hand moving right through the boy's without resistance. The area where their forms intersected glowed brightly. The spirit pulled away immediately, stumbling backward and falling to the ground.

Ryou stared in shock, only snapping out of it when he heard the boy whimper in pain. He turned to face the boy, inspecting his hand for damage. "Does it hurt?" he asked, not seeing anything visibly wrong.

"It felt really bad..." the boy said.

"Your hand?" Ryou asked, rubbing it gently.

The boy shook his head. "_Everything_," the boy said, shivering. "I don't want to feel like that."

Ryou held the boy close and took a look at the spirit. "Are you okay?" he asked, holding out a hand toward him.

"I'm fine," the spirit said, sounding distinctly rattled. He ignored Ryou's hand as he stood. He turned to continue down the path. "Keep him away from me."

Ryou and the others trailed after him. "What was that?" Ryou asked Marik. He assumed the boy didn't know, and he doubted the spirit would tell him even if he did know.

"I don't know," Marik said. "They're technically the same-"

"We are _not_ the same," the spirit said, words mingling with the boy's simultaneous cry of "We're not the same!"

"Um... Well, however you want to put it then," Marik said. "This is your memory," he told the spirit. "Like it or not, he's a part of you."

The spirit didn't reply.

The four walked for another few minutes, before the spirit stopped them near a bend in the road. "Wait here," he said softly. "And be quiet." He approached the turn from the side of the building next to them and carefully looked around the corner, then returned to the others. "We've found him."

"What do we do now?" Ryou asked, keeping his voice low.

"I'll take care of it," the spirit said, turning toward the entrance to the nearest building. "Stay here."

"Wait, where are you going?" Ryou asked, grabbing the spirit's arm. He didn't like the thought of anyone being separated from the group. He still hadn't seen Yugi since he'd run after the Pharaoh, and he had no idea if he was even okay. The spirit possibly going off on his own made him worry about so many different things: the spirit's safety on his own, their safety without him, what sort of thing he might do to the High Priest without anyone to stop him...

The spirit yanked his arm away. "I'm taking a route that will prevent him from seeing my approach," he said, as though it were obvious.

"But we won't be able to see you either," Ryou said. "What if something happens?"

"Then something happens," the spirit replied irritably. "This is the best course of action we have available."

"How are you going to carry all the items back here?" Ryou persisted. In the past he would have been too suspicious to willingly allow the spirit to carry all seven items around on his own; his concerns were more about the practical aspects now.

"I'll call the rest of you over once I've subdued him," the spirit said, disappearing into the building.

Ryou sighed.

"He'll be okay," Marik said.

"I hope so..." Ryou said. He hugged the boy again, more to comfort himself than the boy this time.

The boy seemed aware of this. "Is he really your friend?" he asked, glancing toward the building the spirit had gone into.

Ryou wasn't sure how to answer. He knew the spirit would have denied it, but the spirit would also have claimed not to have any friends at all. "I'm his friend," he told the boy. "I think he's my friend, too."

"But he's mean to you," the boy protested. "He's mean to everyone."

"Sometimes he forgets how mean he's supposed to be," Marik said. "He can be almost nice to be around when that happens."

The boy looked doubtful about this.

"He just doesn't want to be weak," Ryou said. He'd been thinking that before they'd been drawn into the memory, but it made far more sense after everything they'd seen. Taken from a very skewed perspective, it would make sense to think that caring about other people was what had left him crying and helpless when they'd all been killed. Caring about other people might actually have been a weakness if all they ever did was reject him over and over again – or even tried to hurt him. Thinking that way may well have helped the spirit to survive after he left the ruins of his village.

It was strange to think that the spirit's paranoia might have been justified at one point.

Whatever the boy intended to say about the matter was drowned out by a call from the spirit in the distance. "Landlord! Get over here!"

Ryou and the others quickly rounded the corner to see the spirit standing over an unconscious man some ways away, the golden items spilling out of the pockets of the man's cloak. They rushed over to him.

"Is he dead?" the boy asked quietly, looking at the spirit with fear in his eyes.

The spirit scowled at him. "He's merely unconscious. Committing a murder this close to all the items together would be extremely unwise."

Ryou couldn't quite tell if he wanted to warn them about that particular danger, or if he just wanted to make it clear that he hadn't left the man alive because he was unwilling to kill someone. Either way, he was as relieved as the boy and Marik were to find that the man was still alive.

"What are we going to do with the items?" Ryou asked, stomach turning at the thought of touching any of them, especially so soon after the _material_ had hardened. It didn't help that the ring, the puzzle, and the key didn't have the strings and chains their future owners had added to make them easier to carry.

"We could each take a few of them," Marik suggested. "I'll carry any two or three other than the rod..." he added, looking as uncomfortable as Ryou felt.

The spirit leaned down and picked up the ring and the key, shoving them at Marik. "Here." He picked up the puzzle next and handed it to Ryou.

Ryou looked at the puzzle, noticing that it appeared slightly different than he remembered it. "It's not a puzzle," he said, confused by its completely solid nature. He held it away from the boy, noticing the sickened expression on his face when he looked at the items. Ryou couldn't really blame him, though it made him wonder how the spirit handled it so easily. That was his family in the items, too.

"It didn't become a 'puzzle' until it was broken," the spirit told him. He picked up the scale, causing it to tilt slightly, then held it out to Ryou.

Ryou's only free hand was currently holding the boy's hand. He looked from the scale to the boy, reluctant to let go. The boy saw where he was looking and made the decision for him, letting go of his hand. Ryou stroked his hair before taking the scale, which returned to its normal position once the spirit was away from it. The boy took hold of his arm in place of his hand.

The spirit picked up the necklace and the rod, looping the necklace around one wrist to keep one hand free. He unsheathed the dagger hidden within the rod, as though to check that it was good to use, then sheathed it again.

Ryou wondered for a moment how exactly the rod could have been created with a hidden dagger like that, given that what they'd seen of the creation process had only consisted of pouring the material into molds to create the items whole, but he supposed that the magic probably made the difference. He looked from Marik to the spirit to the items in his own hands, noting that they each had two items. "Where's the Millennium Eye?" he asked, immediately envisioning an answer he really, really hoped wasn't true.

All four pairs of eyes turned to the man face down on the ground.

The spirit flipped him over onto his back, revealing what Ryou had feared: the Millennium Eye was lodged squarely in the man's eye socket. There wasn't much blood, but the whole left side of his face was an angry red, looking like it had recently been burned. The man's normal eye was closed. Ryou's gaze wandered down to the man's chest, resting on something unexpected, yet familiar clutched in the man's arm. "What's the book doing here?" he asked.

The spirit picked it up with his free hand. "The High Priest needed it to create the items," he said. He looked from the book to Marik's hands to Ryou's, then looked at the boy.

"He can't carry that, it's too heavy," Marik said.

"He can if he uses both arms," the spirit said, shoving the book against the boy's chest. The boy let go of Ryou's arm, struggling to keep hold of the book. "Let him be useful for once."

Ryou looked at the boy in concern, but the boy managed to get a solid grip on the large book. "I can do it," the boy told him.

Ryou gave him a small smile, then turned to the spirit. "How are you going to get the eye?" he asked, feeling a little queasy.

"How do you think?" the spirit replied, leaning down over the body and reaching for the eye.

The man's normal eye flew open, making everyone other than the spirit jump back. The spirit himself was undeterred. He held the rod up, and it started to glow. The man sat up with an ease that Ryou doubted would be possible if he weren't possessed by the rod. Ryou looked on in horror as the man removed the Millennium Eye himself, making a sickening popping noise in the process. The boy cried out and turned away. The man held the slightly bloody object out for the spirit to take from him. Ryou avoided looking at the man's face, not really wanting to know what an empty eye socket looked like.

The spirit wiped the eyeball on the man's cloak, then put it in his pocket.

"What are you going to do with him?" Ryou asked.

The man took off his cloak and handed it to the spirit. The spirit ripped a few strips of fabric off. "I'm going to tie him up."

A dark wind blew across the path, stopping the spirit from reaching the man to tie his hands. The scale in Ryou's hand tilted. When the wind died down, the man was on his feet. The spirit stepped back, hitting the rod against his palm a few times like he thought it was broken.

A terrible smile filled the man's face. The spot where the Millennium Eye had been was nothing more than a black hole, black smoke pouring out of it to hover around his body. He laughed. "You didn't really believe that would work for long, did you?" he asked, voice low-pitched and distorted.

The boy whimpered, hiding behind Ryou. Ryou looked around for a way to escape, but there was no where to run that the man couldn't follow, and he didn't think the boy's legs were long enough to have any chance of outrunning a fully grown man fueled by magical energy. They also couldn't run very fast without dropping the book and at least some of the items, which was another serious problem. He was prepared to do it if it came to that, but he hoped it wouldn't. He stepped backward, trying to shield the boy from the man, for what it was worth.

"Zorc?" Marik asked.

Confusion passed over the man's face, quickly replaced by anger. "I am High Priest Aknadin," he said, tone filled with arrogance.

"Um..." Marik said, looking at the spirit for some kind of confirmation.

"He's allowed the darkness into his soul, but he is still the High Priest," the spirit told him.

"Allowed the darkness into my soul," the man scoffed. "I am a High Priest of Egypt. I am the only thing standing between this land and the evil that would destroy it."

"Evil?" Ryou asked, wondering what the man could possibly be talking about, since he clearly didn't mean Zorc. Or human sacrifice. Or even genocide, for that matter.

"Yes, _evil_. Thieves who would rob us. Armies that would invade us," the man said. The smoke around him thickened. "Evil people whose continued existence contaminates the very soul of our country."

"Like the people in this village?" Marik asked softly.

The boy looked betrayed. "We aren't evil!" he said, sounding like he was about to start crying again.

Ryou turned to try and calm him down. "It's okay," he said quietly, wishing his hands weren't occupied. "He knows."

The man turned his attention to the boy. "Oh, So you aren't evil, are you?" he asked, laughing horribly. "Then why was your first reaction to this _horrible tragedy_ to come and steal from me?"

"Steal... you murdered an entire village!" Ryou said in disbelief. "You stole their lives to create those items. You used their bodies..." he found he couldn't continue.

"Those people were evil!" the man shouted. "You were all supposed to die, but it looks like we missed a few of you. I'll just have to remedy that now," he declared, taking a step forward. His body wavered, still clearly weak. He seemed to be held up more by the smoke than his own strength – though the smoke itself was clearly a force to be reckoned with.

Ryou, Marik, and the boy took a step back, but the spirit held his ground. "And how exactly do you intend to accomplish that?" the spirit asked, sounding almost like he _wanted_ the man to try something. He unsheathed the dagger hidden in the rod.

Ryou watched the dagger nervously, fearing that the spirit really would kill the man this time. He wondered how serious the spirit had been when he said it would be unwise to commit a murder near the items.

"You think I'm afraid of something I created?" the man asked, lunging at the spirit without any apparent concern for his own safety.

The spirit dodged the attack easily, sending the man to the ground. "You'll have to do far better than that if you want to kill me," he said.

The smoke lifted the man back onto his feet, and he repeated his attempt several more times, failing every time. It looked like the man had forgotten about Ryou and the others entirely. After the man fell to the ground for at least the dozenth time, Ryou locked eyes with the spirit, who tilted his head to the side, gesturing for him to get out of there.

Ryou didn't like the idea of separating then anymore than he had earlier, but he knew they had to get away. While the spirit had no trouble avoiding his attacks, the man actually was very fast, and if he decided to attack anyone else, Ryou knew they would be in trouble. He nodded to the others, and they quietly started to make their way away from the scene.

Ryou sighed in relief when they rounded the nearest corner. "Where should we go?" he asked Marik.

"I don't know," Marik said. "But we should probably stay away from the middle of the village. I don't think the items are safe anywhere near that stone."

"That's really too bad," a deep voice said from further down the path.

All three heads turned toward the source. Ryou felt a chill run down his spine when he saw the Pharaoh, or possibly Zorc, standing behind Yugi and pressing a sword against his throat. Yugi looked simultaneously terrified and heartbroken.

For a moment Ryou's panicked mind thought the sword was another magical item, but then he realized that it looked just like the swords clutched in the hands of the bodies scattered around the village.

"What do you want?" Marik asked.

"The items," the Pharaoh said. "Give them to me."

"Don't do it!" Yugi squeaked.

Ryou had no idea what to do. He couldn't just stand there and let the Pharaoh kill Yugi, but handing over the items would be like standing there and letting the Pharaoh kill _everyone_. "What are you going to do with them?" he asked, trying to stall.

"I'm going to..." The Pharaoh abruptly cringed for a moment, face contorting in a series of strange expressions before returning to what it had been. "If you don't stop that," he shouted angrily, "this sword might just move itself by accident."

"Stop what?" Ryou asked desperately, feeling like he was arguing with a madman. The Pharaoh certainly _looked_ crazier than normal, face filled with a wild anger Ryou had never seen anywhere – not even in the spirit.

"Never mind," the Pharaoh said. "Now give me..." The Pharaoh seemed to rethink whatever he'd been about to say. "No, I have a better idea. Come with me," he ordered, starting to back away from them down the path toward the center of the village.

"Where-" Marik started to ask.

The Pharaoh cut him off. "Come with me or he dies."

Ryou hesitated, looking at Marik in the hopes that he'd know what to do, but Marik seemed just as clueless as he was.

The boy tugged on Ryou's shirt. "We have to go," he said fearfully. "Or he'll kill him!"

"It does look like we have no choice," Marik said, starting to follow the Pharaoh down the path.

"I guess not," Ryou agreed unhappily, joining him and the boy. He could only hope that they'd think of something before they reached their destination.


	25. An Unfair Advantage

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 24)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou, Marik, and the boy followed the Pharaoh to the center of the village in silence. Ryou had a moment of hope when he saw the ghosts blocking the stairs. _They won't want to let the Pharaoh through,_ he thought.

Surely enough, the ghosts surrounded them as soon as they got close to the stairs. "Don't let them touch you," Ryou whispered to Marik. Marik nodded, eying the ghosts warily.

The Pharaoh broke into deranged laughter when he saw the ghosts, which made the sword against Yugi's neck shake slightly. "Go ahead," he told them. "Touch me all you want."

Ryou and Marik dodged the stream of spirits that suddenly rushed by. They shielded the boy between them. None of them were touched, but Ryou heard Yugi scream for a second before abruptly being cut off. Ryou looked over and saw an unconscious Yugi only held upright by one of the Pharaoh's arms. He had a small cut on his neck where he'd accidentally knocked against the sword, and Ryou was sickened to realize that if the Pharaoh hadn't caught him, Yugi's throat would likely have been sliced right open.

The Pharaoh himself was completely unaffected by the ghosts, seeming merely annoyed at having to hold Yugi up now that he was unconscious. "Let's go," he said, dragging Yugi straight through the remainder of the ghostly wall. He started down the stairs, quickly disappearing out of sight. The ghosts darted around the entrance, filling the air with distorted, angry muttering. They were clearly not happy at having lost their prey.

"We have to go after them," the boy said, stepping forward.

Ryou was about to warn him off going toward the ghosts, but as soon as the boy said it, the ghosts moved out of the way to clear a path downward. _I guess they want us to do it._ He stood in front of the boy. "It's dangerous down there. He only really wants the items, so..."

"I'm coming, too," the boy said, picking up on where Ryou was headed.

"You'll be safer up here," Marik said.

"I don't want to be alone," the boy said, looking down at the ground. "I don't want to be safe when everyone else is..." He started sniffling.

Ryou looked at Marik, who shrugged back at him, having no more idea of what to do than he did. Ryou looked at the ghosts and thought of the High Priest who'd attacked them. _Maybe it isn't that much safer,_ he thought. _Who knows what else is running around this village right now?_ Both of Ryou's hands were full, so he rubbed the boy's arm with the back of one hand to reassure him. "We'll all go," he said.

The boy nodded. The three walked through the corridor of ghosts and down the stairs.

The Pharaoh was waiting for them in the room at the bottom. Yugi lay on his stomach on the floor, still unconscious, hands bound behind his back. The Pharaoh stood over him, pointing the sword down at the exposed side of his face. "So you've finally decided to join us."

"What do you want?" Marik asked.

"I want you to put the items where they're supposed to be," the Pharaoh said, gesturing at the stone in the middle of the room.

Ryou's heart sank. It wasn't surprising, and he knew he should have realized it would come to this, but now that the moment was actually here, he couldn't see any way out of it. "This won't protect the items," he said, hoping to appeal to the Pharaoh's emotions.

The Pharaoh laughed. "Nice try," he said. "But we're long past the point where convincing _the Pharaoh_ will help you."

"...Zorc?" Ryou asked softly. He already knew the answer, but more time talking meant more time not putting the items in the stone.

"What do you think?" Zorc replied, waving the sword around aimlessly.

"What happened to the Pharaoh?" Marik asked.

"Oh, he's still here," Zorc said, smiling as though he especially relished thinking about it. "He knows exactly how his foolishness led to this point."

"His foolishness?" Ryou asked. They needed to stall until... something happened to get them out of this. Until they saw an opportunity to disarm Zorc. Until the spirit came to save them. Anything.

Zorc laughed. "Yes, his foolishness. The foolishness of all mortals," he said. He took on a dramatic pose, face exhibiting mock terror. "They're coming after us! I'm the _only one_ who can stop them! Anyone who gets in my way deserves what they get!" His face returned to its normal sneer. "The same idiocy, every single time."

"Because you encourage it," Marik protested. "He would never have done any of the things he did if you hadn't possessed him."

"Oh, but I didn't _possess_ him," Zorc replied. "Not until we arrived in this lovely village, anyway," he added, waving the sword around again. "I merely slipped in through a tiny crack and waited, oh so patiently agreeing with every paranoid, delusional idea that flitted through his head."

"You talked to him?" Ryou asked, finding the idea unlikely. The spirit had said he hadn't even known Zorc was inside him, and Ryou couldn't really see the Pharaoh listening to a voice that suddenly appeared in his mind, whatever else he'd done.

"Not directly," Zorc said. "But he could _feel_ the rightness about it, like the gods themselves agreed with his nonsense." He laughed uproariously. "He didn't have the slightest clue that something was wrong until the very end, when the cracks had widened enough for me to take over his whole being."

"But-" Marik started to say.

Zorc cut him off. "Enough of this. Put the items in the stone, now."

Marik and Ryou stood there silently, making no move toward the stone or away from it. The boy watched them fearfully from the doorway. Ryou felt horribly conflicted. He didn't want Yugi to die, but if he complied, Yugi might well die anyway, along with the rest of them.

Zorc grew visibly impatient. "I don't have to kill him immediately, you know," he said, pointing the sword at Yugi's face. "I could start with cutting off an ear. Or a nose." He touched the tip of the sword to Yugi's cheek. "Or I could just carve up his face."

The boy made a frightened sound. Marik walked up to the stone and dropped the ring and key in their respective slots. "I'm sorry," he told Ryou softly, not looking at his face. "I just can't..."

"It's okay," Ryou said. He was close to giving in himself. Even if he did it, only four items would be in the stone. The spirit still had the other three. If anyone could keep them away from the cavern, he could.

Zorc traced the sword over Yugi's cheek, leaving a long, thin scratch. "If you really-" Zorc stopped abruptly, his whole body shaking violently. His face contorted into an angry, silent scream. Ryou watched as the sword waved perilously over Yugi's face, looking like it could well end up hurting him entirely by accident. For a moment it seemed like Zorc was about to throw the sword across the room, but then he recovered, holding it right behind Yugi's ear. "Even the slightest movement could take off your friend's ear," Zorc said. "Cooperation would be wise."

"The Pharaoh's fighting back, isn't he?" Ryou asked, feeling a bit more hopeful. If the Pharaoh could retake control, they might be able to get out of this mess without anyone being hurt. The Pharaoh might have been their enemy for the past few months, but he seemed to be attempting to protect Yugi now, and Ryou doubted the knowledge of what Zorc had been doing to him hadn't made an impact.

"Yes, but it's not important," Zorc replied. "After I have all the items united together, he can say and do whatever he likes. Now, put the items in the stone." He pressed the sword closer to Yugi's ear.

Ryou broke down, certain Zorc would in fact take off Yugi's ear if he didn't cooperate. He slowly walked over to the stone and deposited the puzzle and the scale in their spots. The scale was somewhat more difficult than the puzzle, since it was stuck in an unbalanced position due to Zorc's presence while the matching slot was clearly for a balanced scale. Ryou tried to force the scale to balance by simply pushing the raised side downward, but it didn't work.

"Just set it on the right spot," Zorc told him.

Ryou was about to protest that it wouldn't go in the way it was, but then he remembered that he didn't actually want the scale in the stone, he just wanted Zorc to see his compliance. He dutifully placed the scale down over the matching hole. He was more surprised than he probably should have been when the scale was sucked downward by an unseen force, distorting itself momentarily to fit in the slot.

"Go stand with your friend," Zorc ordered.

Ryou returned to stand next to Marik. He was relieved to see Zorc pull the sword away from Yugi's face. It wasn't like Zorc had any compelling reason _not_ to harm them now.

Zorc turned his attention to the cauldron, cutting two lengths from a rope hanging from the rim. Ryou realized that was where he'd gotten the rope to tie Yugi up with. This did not seem to bode well for them.

Once Zorc was satisfied with the rope he'd cut, he called the boy over to him. "You! Put the book down and come here!"

The boy set the book down and slowly crept out from the doorway, walking over to Zorc with his head low. Ryou watched anxiously, ready to fight if necessary. Zorc handed the two pieces of rope to the boy. "Turn around. Both of you," he ordered Ryou and Marik.

Ryou and Marik did as they were told.

"You! Tie their hands," Zorc said to the boy. "And do it well, or there will be consequences."

The boy walked over to Marik first. Marik held his hands behind his back, making it easy for the boy to tie him. Ryou wondered if the boy would even know how to tie a knot – even if he hadn't been walking around barefoot, he wouldn't have been wearing shoes with laces – but someone must have taught him at some point, because he did it without any difficulty.

"Tighten that knot," Zorc ordered.

The boy obeyed, though obviously distressed about what he was doing. He walked behind Ryou when he was finished. Ryou held his hands out the same way Marik had. The boy took one wrist, then hesitated.

"Do it," Zorc said.

The boy still didn't move. Ryou squeezed his hand to tell him it was okay, then let go. The boy tied his hands, then stepped back. Ryou tugged lightly on the rope to test the strength, finding the knot was surprisingly tight. He had a small amount of wiggle room, but he wasn't sure whether or not it would be enough to get his hands free of the rope if necessary.

"Now, all of you, sit down over there," Zorc said, pointing to the side of the room.

The three walked over to the wall and sat on the floor. The boy buried his face in Ryou's sleeve.

"What are you going to do now?" Ryou asked. It didn't seem like he intended to hurt them; it felt far more like he'd just gotten them out of the way in preparation for something else.

"I'm going to wait for the other three items to come to me," Zorc said, sitting atop the stone. He looked ready to stay there for some time.

Ryou wondered whether the spirit would actually come. They hadn't agreed on a specific place to meet after the spirit finished with the High Priest, but the center of the village was the last place they'd logically go after getting the items. Then again, the spirit did tend to assume he always did the stupidest possible thing, so perhaps he'd come looking for them there before anywhere else.

Ryou didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. On the one hand, the spirit might be able to rescue them. On the other hand, if he did come, he'd be doing exactly what Zorc wanted him to do.

Ryou just hoped he was doing okay. The High Priest hadn't seemed that difficult for him to handle...

* * *

Aknadin's anger was growing. No matter how many times he attacked, the bandit managed to dodge him with ease. He'd noticed a few moments ago that the bandit's companions – thieves themselves – had escaped while he was distracted, which only enraged him further. But it didn't matter. He would get them later.

Aknadin could feel the power surrounding him, radiating out from where the blessed artifact had been before the bandit had stolen it from him. It only confirmed what he already knew: the eye was _destined_ to be his. How else would it be lending him its power even after it had been taken from him? He flew at the bandit once again, faster than he had any of the other times.

The bandit hit him on the stomach with the head of the rod as he evaded the attack. "You'll have to do better than that, old man." He laughed viciously, and Aknadin heard a fierce anger bleeding through the already not particularly cheerful sound.

It only made Aknadin's hatred stronger. What right did _he_ have to be angry? His village had been destroying Egypt with its very existence. He himself had just committed a shameless act of thievery. He had done it right in front of a child, too, ensuring that he learned the foul practices of the village at that young age. The children had been Aknadin's one near regret about what he'd done, but he could see now how they'd already been thoroughly corrupted. Leaving them alive to pursue a life of thieving and beggary after their parents had been executed went against the entire point of creating the items.

And the items themselves would be used to save countless other children from even being corrupted in the first place.

"Why do you persist in fighting me?" Aknadin demanded, barely noticing the pain in his stomach where he'd been hit. "You're fated to die."

"I'm already dead, you idiot," the bandit told him. "You're long dead as well."

"Spewing nonsense won't help you!" The smoke surrounding Aknadin spilled out in all directions, knocking the bandit over. Aknadin was on top of him in an instant, strangling him with both hands. The bandit stabbed one of his hands with the sharp end of the rod, shoving him off when he screamed. The bandit got out of the way of a possible attack, but didn't counterattack. "What's the matter? Don't think you can kill me?"

"I already killed you," the bandit replied. "And as much fun as it would be to do it again, more personally this time, I don't believe it's worth the risk."

"The risk of what?" Aknadin asked, clutching his hand. The pain was making it difficult to concentrate. He had to remember what he was fighting for. "Afraid of incurring the wrath of the gods, are you? You should have thought of that before committing to a life of evil."

The bandit laughed again, this time seeming to find some actual humor in what Aknadin had said. "You are possibly the only person I could kill that wouldn't incur the wrath of _any_ powerful being. Not even Zorc would care if you died now, since you've already served your purpose."

"And who is this 'Zorc'?" Aknadin asked, wondering why the bandit continued inventing things. The bandit couldn't imagine it would actually affect him, could he? An image of the horrifying demon that had shown after the items had been completed appeared in his mind. Aknadin frowned at the thought, but quickly shook his head. The demon had come to protect his evil followers, or simply to stop the creation of the holy items. That's why he'd killed all the noble soldiers Aknadin had brought with him. Aknadin had only survived because the items had protected him from the evil being.

The bandit noticed his brief frown. "Oh, you know exactly who Zorc is," he said. "But that doesn't really matter. I have to think of a way of getting rid of you that doesn't involve actually killing you outright. Perhaps a shadow game," he added, a smirk appearing on his face.

"A what?" Aknadin demanded. "I'll have no part of any evil magic practiced by the people of this village."

The bandit chuckled. "Yes, it's still too early for you to know about those, isn't it? But we don't have the tablets for that sort of game, so I'll have to think of a slightly different one, anyway."

Just then, a parade of ghosts floated over the top of the nearest building, swarming around the bandit and whispering to him. Aknadin couldn't make out what they were saying. A few attempted to get close to him, but the black smoke drove them away. Aknadin was heartened to see that the items were still protecting him from the evil souls of the village even then.

The bandit rolled his eyes at something one of the ghosts told him. "I let that fool out of my sight for five minutes and he's already in trouble again." He turned back to Aknadin, grinning horribly. "At least I've figured out what game to play with you," he said. All the light vanished from the air around them, leaving them facing each other in a formless purple void.

Aknadin got up on his feet. He didn't like the place they were in – it was the same color as the demon that had attacked him and his men. The ghosts crowded around them, snickering. There were two gaps in the circle, each leading to some sort of portal. The one to Aknadin's left looked like sand rushing over the surface of a stone, while the one to his right looked like a pool of ink somehow floating in midair. Each was only a few steps away. "What is going on?"

"It's really very simple," the bandit replied. He pointed to the sandy portal. "This one leads back to the village." He pointed to the inky portal. "This one leads fully into the Shadow Realm."

"Enough of this," Aknadin said, walking toward the sandy portal without even stopping to consider that the bandit could have been lying. Or that's what he would have done if he could move his legs, anyway. "What have you done?"

"We're going to play a little game," the bandit said, not bothering to answer his question properly. "The spirits of the dead will appear, one at a time, in this spot," he said, gesturing to the area between them. "We'll take turns trying to identify them either as people from this village or people from outside it. You guess correctly, you get to take a step that way." The bandit pointed toward the sandy portal. "You guess incorrectly, you take a step the other way."

Aknadin felt a small rush of fear inside himself, but immediately tried to squash it.

The bandit seemed to have noticed anyway. "What, not confident in your ability to recognize the people you judged worthy of death?"

Aknadin fumed. "Of course I am," he said, but privately he still had a small amount of doubt. He hadn't seen all or even most of the villagers up close. He was certain he could distinguish between normal people and people as evil as those of the village, but there were plenty of evil people outside the village.

"Well then, you should have no problem going first," the bandit said, waving one hand toward the floor.

The ghost of a young, apparently pregnant woman appeared between them. She turned toward Aknadin, staring past him with a blank look on her face. There was a large, bloody hole in chest, where she'd probably been stabbed with a sword. Aknadin inspected her, trying to figure out whether she could have belonged to the village or not. Her wound could have been caused by the weapons they'd used – no, that was against the point of the exercise. He should be assessing her whole being to see if she could be one of the villagers.

She seemed dead, and not just in the literal sense. She looked like she might just stand around doing nothing for the rest of eternity. The villagers were an angry people, prone to violence. Even now, the village ghosts around them alternated between furious whispering and sickening laughter. "She's not a villager," Aknadin said confidently.

He was immediately pulled one step toward the inky, black portal.

"It looks like you were wrong," the bandit pointed out. The woman disappeared, replaced by an elderly man. "Villager," the bandit said, before the man could even fully materialize. He moved a step toward the sandy portal.

"This game is unfair," Aknadin declared. "These people are your conspirators. Of course you can identify them."

"Oh, but you know our very _souls_," the bandit replied silkily. "That's how you know how evil we are. So we should be evenly matched. We'll both be out of here in no time."

Another ghost appeared in the center, a young man this time. He was dressed in a simple, dirty tunic, blood spattered all over the top. There was an angry red line all around his neck, as though his head had been cut right off and then been stuck back on his body. He turned to Aknadin, becoming visibly enraged when he recognized who he was looking at. "This one's a villager," Aknadin said, turning toward the sandy portal expectantly.

He was shocked to be pulled in the opposite direction.

"Ah, no. He just doesn't like you very much," the bandit said, not sounding particularly sympathetic. "He was probably executed under one of your special new laws."

Aknadin scowled.

The man disappeared, and a woman appeared in his place. "Not a villager," the bandit said easily. He moved toward the sandy portal. The woman disappeared, replaced by a small child.

Aknadin felt slightly uneasy. He was only one step away from the black portal, and another incorrect guess would put him right inside it. He looked at the child carefully. The child was young, so young that he couldn't even tell whether it was a boy or a girl from what he saw. The clothing was simple, giving no clues about the child's gender or hometown. The area around the stomach was torn up and covered in blood. The child looked frightened, and after looking at Aknadin's face became absolutely terrified.

Aknadin focused in the child's hair, which was an unusual shade of silver. He'd seen that shade of silver in the village, but he'd never seen or heard of it in children anywhere else. He stared at the child for a while after making his decision, just to make sure. After several moments, he thought he could see the signs of a future criminal clearly. The child didn't cower like a normal child, it cowered like the child of thieves. The child obviously realized that Aknadin was a High Priest of Egypt and therefore a natural enemy.

Aknadin could see the instinctive desire to steal, murder, and destroy lurking in the child's eyes, along with a good amount of blame. Presumably the child was upset about being killed. "A villager," he said with certainty.

The bandit's laugh was his first clue that he'd gotten it wrong. The pull on his body was the next. Aknadin tried to resist, struggling fruitlessly against the invisible force. He flailed his arms in every direction as he was slowly pulled toward the inky portal, at one point attempting to grab onto one of the ghosts. It didn't work, of course, and only caused the ghosts to join the bandit in uproarious laughter.

Aknadin's foot entered the portal first, suddenly becoming unbearably cold. The feeling spread up through his legs and then over his whole body. He screamed wordlessly as his whole body was pulled into the portal. The last thing he heard was the bandit's simple statement: "Not a villager."

Aknadin never found out if the bandit had been correcting him, or if he was simply taking his turn.

He had far bigger problems to deal with.


	26. The Trick

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 25)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.**  
A/N**: Since just about everyone was asking who the ghost-child at the end of the last chapter is, I'll just say here that it wasn't meant to be anyone specific. Just another random person, like the other two were. Some people suggested it might be Amane, but I wasn't really thinking that hard about it XD

* * *

Ryou prepared himself to wait for a very long time. He glanced over at Marik and was surprised to see him glaring at the floor, almost brooding. "What's wrong?" he whispered, not wanting to upset their captor.

"Nothing," Marik said, sounding frustrated. "It's stupid to think about it now."

"What is it?" Ryou asked. He hoped Marik wasn't still upset about giving in before he had.

"Well, this is my fault, isn't it?" Marik said. "I must have screwed up the exorcism."

"No, actually," Zorc replied. "You performed the exorcism perfectly, and it did exactly what it was supposed to do – it cast the Pharaoh out of the body he was possessing." He laughed. "I simply held on and went along with him. It's amazing what I can do now that I'm fully awake, isn't it?" He tapped the sword against the stone. "I wasted thousands of years trying to get at these items while still half-asleep, and once awakened it only took a matter of months to obtain them all."

"Awakened?" Ryou asked, but the answer immediately dawned on him. "You mean when we called you out of the ring."

"Yes."

"So this really is my fault," Ryou said. He'd already felt guilty enough about being the cause of the Pharaoh's possession. The boy hugged his arm comfortingly.

"You're really _all_ at fault," Zorc said. "But the Pharaoh was the one who came up with the idea and insisted on carrying it out. So, I think we can all blame him for this," he added, smiling broadly. His eyes were rolled back into his head, as though he were looking at the Pharaoh trapped inside him while he said it.

The room fell back into silence. An indeterminate amount of time went by.

Ryou stared at the door to the stairs, wondering exactly how long it had been since Zorc had dragged them down there and tied them up. It felt like no one had said anything in hours, though he doubted it had actually been that long. Not that time really seemed to pass normally in the memory anyway.

He was starting to wonder if the High Priest had managed to defeat the spirit somehow when the spirit appeared in the doorway, having walked down the stairs without making any noise to alert them to his presence. _Well, he is a thief,_ Ryou thought. He wondered exactly what the spirit had done to get away, but in the end decided he might not want to know the answer to that question.

Zorc immediately walked over to Ryou and seized his arm. He hauled him up into a standing position, shaking the boy off him in the process. He thrust Ryou in front of him and held the sword up to his neck. "It took you long enough to get here," he said. "But then, I can't say you've ever been especially _quick_ about accomplishing our goals."

"Heh. You mean about accomplishing _your_ goals," the spirit replied. He eyed the sword impassively, then caught Ryou's eye for a moment.

Ryou tried not to look as scared as he felt.

"Yes... It didn't take long for you to start working against me, did it?" Zorc asked. "But that doesn't matter now. Put the rest of the items in the stone." He pressed the sword closer to Ryou's neck.

"Why should I?" the spirit asked, sounding totally indifferent.

Ryou almost hoped he actually _was_ that indifferent. It was painful to imagine, but at least Zorc wouldn't have any way of coercing the spirit into cooperating.

"Because if you don't," Zorc said slowly, as though talking to someone especially stupid, "I will take this sword..." He held the sword out slightly away from Ryou's body to display it. "And I will use it to slit his throat." He hit the flat part of the blade against Ryou's throat hard, as though to point out what he was referring to. It hurt badly and made Ryou feel like coughing, which he couldn't even do with the sword in the position it was in. He heard a muffled whimper from where the boy had fallen to the floor.

"I don't see how this effects me," the spirit replied, crossing his arms.

"If I kill him, you'll lose your only connection to the physical world," Zorc said. "You'll be left as a wandering spirit for the rest of eternity."

"Yes, but if I give you the items, he'll still die, and I'll still be left a wandering spirit for the rest of eternity," the spirit replied. "Only in that case the rest of eternity will be much shorter."

"You used to find that an appealing thought," Zorc said. He paused before continuing. "If you give me the items, you'll be destroying the Pharaoh and everything he holds dear."

"No, _you'll_ be destroying the Pharaoh," the spirit pointed out. "It's hardly a very personal sort of revenge."

"Once you've given me the items, I'll allow you all the personal revenge you could wish for," Zorc said. Ryou found it odd to hear Zorc promising the destruction of the Pharaoh in the Pharaoh's voice, but then, he supposed it really wasn't any weirder than hearing Zorc talk about what an idiot the Pharaoh was in the Pharaoh's voice.

"For some reason I find myself unable to believe you'll keep your word," the spirit said.

"Suit yourself," Zorc said. "But the items go in the stone either way. Do it now, or I start cutting him up."

Ryou opened his mouth and tried to tell the spirit not to do it, but all that came out was a rough, garbled mess. He stopped trying moments after starting, the attempt to speak too physically painful to continue.

Zorc laughed. "It seems I've already injured him. Maybe I should give him an injury that won't eventually heal this time," he said, lightly rubbing the flat side of the blade against Ryou's neck.

Ryou tried to convey what he meant to the spirit using only his expression, but he didn't know if the spirit got the message. _Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, I'd rather be injured than give him the items, don't do it, don't do it, don't..._

"Don't!" the boy said, echoing Ryou's thoughts with a different target in mind. He stood in front of Ryou and and looked up at Zorc fearfully. "Don't hurt him!"

"I have to," Zorc said. "_He_ won't do what I ask of him." He turned the blade so that the edge was pressed against Ryou's skin.

The boy turned to the spirit. "Give him what he wants!"

The spirit didn't even look at him, though he did scowl after hearing the boy speak. He glared at Zorc, eyes occasionally flitting down to the sword at Ryou's neck. Ryou desperately wished that the spirit could still hear his thoughts just then. _Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it..._

"Well, if that's how it's going to be..." Zorc pressed the blade down, cutting into Ryou's skin.

Ryou closed his eyes tightly, almost certain that he was going to die. But then, there had been plenty of times in the past where he'd been just as certain and had made it out with only a serious injury, so he still had some hope.

After a few agonizing seconds, Zorc pulled the sword away. "Good decision."

Ryou opened his eyes and was horrified to see the spirit walking over to the stone. He tried to protest again – _No!_ – but it was no more effective than the last time.

The spirit stopped when he heard Ryou's distressed sound, but he didn't turn to look. He then continued on until he reached the stone. He put the eye down first, adding the necklace afterward. It was sucked down into the stone with a hiss.

Ryou suddenly felt Zorc jerk at his back as though struggling against an invisible force. Ryou held himself very still, hopeful that the Pharaoh would manage to retake control, but also terrified of the sword waving erratically in front of him.

The spirit paused, watching the fight warily. He gripped the rod as though looking for an opening to attack.

Unfortunately, such an opening never came. The struggle ended, leaving Zorc still in control. "Nice try, but I won't have you ruin everything by breaking free too early," Zorc said. He returned the sword to Ryou's neck and spoke to the spirit. "Now, put the last item where it should be."

The spirit put the rod in the final slot and stepped back. The items all glowed brightly, temporarily blinding everyone in the room. When the light faded, the items appeared to be sealed in the stone.

Ryou waited tensely, expecting something disastrous to happen at any second now that the items were all united in the stone. After a few seconds, he started to doubt what everyone had been saying about the items – wasn't the world supposed to be ending right then? Maybe it couldn't work while they weren't in the real world.

Zorc pushed Ryou forward, walking him over to the stone. He looked over the stone's surface. "Very good," he said. "Now there's only one thing-" Zorc jerked again, violently this time. He stumbled backward, dropping the sword. Ryou immediately dodged sideways, falling to the floor a few feet away, out of his reach. The spirit rushed forward just as Zorc seemed to recover a bit, and the two grappled with each other.

Ryou rolled out of the way and sat up near Marik. The boy hurried over to him, looking at the small, thin cut on his neck. "Are you okay?" he whispered.

Ryou nodded, throat still hurting too much to speak. He turned to the side to show the boy his hands, hoping the boy would understand what he wanted without being told explicitly. The boy knelt down and started tugging on the rope.

The spirit and Zorc were still struggling. They were fairly evenly matched, neither managing to completely overpower the other until Zorc abruptly had another fit, completely losing the ability to defend himself. The spirit slammed him down on top of the stone, grabbing the remaining rope on the cauldron and proceeding to tie his hands and feet into what looked like a very uncomfortable position.

"It won't come undone," the boy whispered to Ryou.

"Try mine," Marik said, holding his hands out behind him.

The boy rushed over to Marik and tried to untie the knot.

Ryou watched Zorc continue to struggle, though whether it was against his bonds or the Pharaoh's attempt to regain control, Ryou couldn't tell. The spirit stood next to the stone, clearly prepared to defend himself against another attack. Eventually the shaking subsided.

"It's alright," Ryou heard the Pharaoh's distinctive voice intone, "He's no longer in control of me."

"How can we know it's really you?" Marik asked. The boy didn't seem to have made any progress on untying him.

"I suppose you can't," the Pharaoh replied softly. "How is Yugi?"

"He's still breathing," Marik told him. "Beyond that I don't know."

The Pharaoh closed his eyes. "Yugi... I'm so sorry..."

"How very _heartwarming_," the spirit said, not taking his eyes off the Pharaoh. Ryou wasn't sure if it was because he didn't believe the Pharaoh was really in control or because he _did_ believe the Pharaoh was in control and still didn't trust him. "I would never have thought you capable of an apology, not even to your _dear _friend."

Ryou wished the spirit would leave his position for a few seconds just to get one of them untied. He waved his arms out behind him until the spirit turned to see what he was doing, then looked at the spirit imploringly. The spirit rolled his eyes, then went to retrieve the sword from where it had fallen on the floor. He made as if to walk over to Ryou, but halted in his tracks when the Pharaoh spoke.

"I never thought I would say this, Thief," the Pharaoh said. "But I owe _you_ an apology as well."

"Really?" the spirit said suspiciously. "And what is it that you believe you are apologizing for, exactly?"

"It was a High Priest of Egypt who ordered the destruction of this village," the Pharaoh said. "Even if I didn't have any direct personal responsibility for what happened here, I still owe you an apology on behalf of Egypt."

"Well," the spirit said. "It's good to know that you're willing to give such an apology, despite not having any _direct personal responsibility_." His tone was overly sweet in a way that Ryou recognized as dangerous. Ryou tried to call out for the Pharaoh to just stop talking, since they already had enough problems right then, but the words stuck in his throat.

Ryou glanced at Marik and saw him cringing. He wondered if the Pharaoh had given him a similar 'apology' for what had happened to him.

"You know, it's the strangest thing," the spirit said, walking back to the stone, sword in hand. "But the first time I told you about what happened to Kul Elna, you didn't even stop to _consider_ that it might be true. Why was that?"

"I still don't have any memories of my past, so I don't know what I was thinking," the Pharaoh said. "But if that's true, I'm sorry I disbelieved you then."

The spirit laughed softly, making Ryou very nervous. "_If_ it's true... _if_..." The spirit shook his head, laughing again before abruptly stopping. A disturbing smile filled his face. "So, what prompted you to apologize _now_?" The spirit's grip on the sword tightened until his knuckles turned white.

Ryou tried to say something to distract them, _either _of them away from the conversation they were having, but it was no good. They'd made through being caught by the ghosts, being confronted by the High Priest, and even held captive by Zorc without anyone being killed, and now that they were almost safe, it looked like the spirit was about to commit murder. Why did the Pharaoh have to choose _that_ moment to give the worst apology he could possibly-?

Ryou frowned. Something didn't seem right about this... It reminded him of the many times the spirit had seemed to be defeated, but had only been biding his time. Fragments of memories echoed through Ryou's head, trying to link up with each other: _'Nice try, but I won't have you ruin everything by breaking free __**too early**__.'_

"I'm apologizing now because of what I've seen," the Pharaoh told the spirit. "No one deserves this. Not even thieves."

Ryou winced at the Pharaoh's comment, but he was still preoccupied with his own thoughts. Zorc couldn't really have intended for the Pharaoh to regain control all along, could he? How would that help him?

_'After I have all the items united together, he can say and do whatever he likes.'_

"We aren't thieves!" the boy shouted. He stood up, abandoning his attempt to untie Marik.

"It doesn't really matter," the Pharaoh said. His gaze was fixed on Yugi, so he completely missed the expressions on the faces around him. "Either way, they didn't deserve to have this happen."

"Of course," the spirit said, laughing again. He waved the sword around. "Why would it ever matter what the people of this village were like?"

Ryou didn't like how close that sword was getting to the Pharaoh...

'_Once you've given me the items, I'll allow you all the personal revenge you could wish for._'

"It doesn't matter," the Pharaoh replied, not seeming to notice anything off about how the spirit was acting. "That's what I'm saying."

"Oh, I heard you," the spirit replied, eyes wild.

"We still need to be untied," Marik said, looking as uneasy as Ryou felt.

"I'll take care of that later," the spirit said, raising the sword above his head.

_'...he'll require a sacrifice... a willing murder or suicide on the part of someone else...'_

_Stop!_ Ryou tried to shout. He struggled against the rope binding his hands, managing to pull one partway through the rope looped around his wrist. _You'll summon Zorc into the world!_

The Pharaoh finally turned his head to see what was going on near him, catching sight of the sword in the spirit's hand. "I see. You may have given up your alliance with Zorc, but you haven't really changed, have you?"

"Oh, but I have," the spirit replied. "I used to want you to have an _elaborate_ death, but I've recently come to the conclusion that simpler is better." He shifted his stance, preparing to plunge the sword down into the Pharaoh's back.

The boy ran to stand between the spirit and the stone, holding his arms out to block the spirit from coming closer. "Don't!"

The spirit backed away slightly, clearly wary of having the boy touch him again. "Get out of my way. I'm about to kill the Pharaoh."

The boy stood his ground. "No!"

The spirit tried to dart around the boy, but the boy kept blocking him, aided by the spirit's obvious desire to avoid touching him. The spirit stopped again, glaring at him. "Our whole family was slaughtered and he's mildly _sorry_ on behalf of Egypt. He only even believes it happened because he was _forced_ to see it."

"But he'll _die_," the boy said, looking frightened of seeing more death.

"Our _whole family_," the spirit said, voice growing louder. "To make a trinket for _him_ to wear. To help _him_ rule Egypt." He was yelling now, voice uneven. "And he still thinks _he's_ the one whose opinion matters when deciding who deserves death."

Ryou jumped to his feet, still trying to get his hands loose. One of his hands was halfway through the rope – he just needed to get his thumb past and he would be free.

"You still can't just kill him!" the boy said.

"I can and I _will_," the spirit declared, feinting to the left before going to the right and bringing the sword down.

"No!" The boy rushed at the spirit, hitting him right in the middle with his whole body. Their forms merged together, a blinding light concealing the spot where they stood. Ryou heard the spirit scream in agony, the sword in his hand clattering harmlessly to the floor. The spirit stumbled backward, then fell to his knees, clutching his head with both hands.

Ryou finally managed to free his hand and immediately rushed over to the spirit.

_What the hell just happened?_


	27. Memories Past

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 26)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Pain flooded through the spirit's whole form. He fell to his knees, screaming in absolute agony. The pain, sadness, and loneliness hit him all at once, overwhelming the wall of anger and hatred he'd built to keep them at bay.

Memories he'd long since forced himself to forget assaulted his mind: his brother showing him how to play a game, his mother fussing over his hair, his grandfather telling him a story...

_Get out! Leave me alone!_

...his father hugging him when he returned from a trip, his grandmother teaching him about the plants found around the village...

The spirit tore at his hair. _I don't need to see any of this!_

...seeing his brother's ghost form and reaching out to him, only to be met with a horrifying vision of his death; cowering in his hiding space, only to be forced out by the ghosts of the village...

_I'm not that weak anymore!_

...wandering around aimlessly, hoping for someone, _anyone_ to help him and feeling devastated when no one gave him a second glance...

_No! I didn't want their help! I didn't **need** their help!_

...cowering in his hiding space, only to be rescued by someone kind...

_It didn't even happen that way!_

...being comforted and protected from the ghosts, feeling a rush of hope when the kind person said he'd take him home and keep him safe...

_No!_ The spirit clawed at his own face. _I don't need anyone's help!_

A pair of hands grabbed his wrists, stopping him before he did any damage to himself. The spirit struggled automatically. "Let go of me, you fool!" He caught a glimpse of his landlord's concerned face and immediately averted his gaze, scowling at the floor as he intensified his attempt to get away.

Unfortunately, the memories flashing through his mind prevented him from giving it his full attention, and the spirit soon found himself caught in a tight embrace.

* * *

Ryou hugged the spirit as close as he could. He still had no idea what was going on, other that the boy was gone and the spirit was in obvious distress. Ryou didn't know if being hugged would really help, but at least it would stop the spirit from hurting himself.

_Though maybe not from hurting **me**,_ Ryou thought as the spirit attempted to push him off again, hitting him squarely in the stomach. Ryou winced, tightening the embrace even further to force the spirit's arms out from between them. The spirit pounded on his back instead, though the hits quickly grew weaker and soon stopped. The spirit rested his hands on Ryou's back, almost – but not quite – returning the hug.

Ryou didn't know whether to be relieved or concerned. He rubbed the spirit's back, hoping to comfort him a little.

The spirit twitched, then buried his head in Ryou's shoulder like he was trying to hide. "Get away from me, you idiot," he said irritably, clinging to Ryou in spite of his words.

_'No,_' Ryou said, pushing the word out through his aching throat.

"Idiot," the spirit repeated softly.

Ryou felt his neck become slightly wet. He pressed the spirit's head closer to him, petting his hair soothingly. The spirit made an indignant noise, but allowed it.

Ryou heard a clatter to his side and looked to see Marik awkwardly cutting his bonds with the discarded sword. "Um. I couldn't wait for you to finish," he said quietly.

Ryou nodded, feeling a little bad for leaving him tied up. The spirit said nothing.

After Marik freed himself, he picked up the sword and used it to free Yugi's hands. He turned Yugi onto his back, then gently shook his shoulder. "Yugi?"

Yugi's eyes blinked open. "Huh?" he said groggily. "What's going on?"

"Er... What do you remember last?" Marik asked.

Yugi sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Well, there were... ghosts, I think? And then..." Yugi shivered, looking disgusted. "Then I was with a bunch of dead bodies being put into a..." He caught sight of the cauldron in the middle of the room, eyes wide with shock. "That didn't actually happen, did it?" he asked, voice a little high-pitched.

"Not to you, no," Marik assured him. "It was just a vision."

"Oh," Yugi said, still looking a little ill.

"Yugi," the Pharaoh said, "I'm glad you're alright."

"Really?" Yugi asked, sounding hurt and angry. "Why do you care now, when you didn't care at all before?"

The Pharaoh winced as though he'd been struck. "Yugi..."

"No," Yugi said, standing up and pointing himself in the Pharaoh's direction. "You can't just-"

"Wait," Marik said, pulling Yugi back before he could get any closer. "We still can't be sure it's really him."

"What?" Yugi asked, clearly bewildered. Ryou realized that Zorc must have simply left him believing it was the Pharaoh holding him hostage, probably to torment the real Pharaoh further.

"Well..." Marik gave a quick explanation of the situation.

"But he was still the one who took over my body for a month," Yugi said afterward, arms crossed. "And broke into Bakura's apartment..."

"Yes," the spirit replied, lifting his head from Ryou's shoulder to look at Yugi. Ryou couldn't see his face, but he could tell the spirit was smirking as he spoke. "It was your precious Pharaoh who did all that."

Ryou was almost happy to hear the spirit make the comment, just because it meant the spirit was probably okay, but at the same time he wished the spirit wouldn't kick people when they were down. He poked the spirit in the side.

Yugi didn't seem that affected, however. "Why are you hugging each other?" he asked, as though he'd just noticed.

"That's really none of your business," the spirit replied. Ryou felt a little relieved by his own inability to speak right then, though he knew he'd probably need to give Yugi some kind of explanation later.

"Um. I guess not," Yugi said. He shook his head, turning back to Marik. "What are we going to do about him?" he asked, gesturing at the Pharaoh. "And how are we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know," Marik said. "We can't untie him yet, though. Clearly Zorc still has some kind of power or we probably wouldn't even be here anymore." He scanned the room, eyes settling on the book, still lying on the ground where the boy had dropped it. He walked over to it and picked it up, opening it and flipping through the pages.

"Look for a means of destroying the items," the spirit told him. "They're the source of Zorc's power in the world."

Marik nodded. "I know there's a spell in here for destroying cursed objects, but I don't know if it will work on the items..."

"You're trusting _his_ advice?" the Pharaoh asked dubiously. "He just tried to kill me."

"His advice matches with what we already know," Marik said, not taking his eyes off the book as he flipped through it.

"At least I didn't _actually_ kill anyone," the spirit added maliciously. "Unlike someone else I could name."

Ryou's heart nearly stopped when he realized what the spirit was talking about. The memory of Shadi fading away right in front of them filled his mind. He'd practically forgotten about it in the midst of everything else that had happened.

The Pharaoh was silent for several moments. "...I didn't intend to kill him. We had a confrontation and it ended badly."

"What happened?" Yugi asked, sounding distrustful.

"I demanded that Shadi give me the two items he carried," the Pharaoh said. "He refused. He held up the scale to show me the darkness in my heart, but I didn't listen. I tried to take the scale from him, but he was able to keep it out of my reach, so I went after the key." The Pharaoh closed his eyes. "I was very angry. When I ripped the key off his neck, a dark force shot out of me, and Shadi went flying backwards."

"How did he get away?" Marik asked, momentarily looking away from the book.

The Pharaoh sighed. "It wasn't the first time that kind of power had come out of me, but it was the first time it happened without any specific intention on my part. I was too shocked to follow him at first."

Ryou didn't know whether to believe him or not. It sounded plausible, especially considering that Shadi _had_ managed to get away for a period – if it had been an intentional murder, he hadn't done it the most efficient way possible. But he wasn't ready to start trusting the Pharaoh again just yet. The story he'd told was bad enough in its own right, and even if it _was_ true, they still had no way of knowing if they were talking to the Pharaoh or Zorc at that moment.

From the looks on Yugi and Marik's faces, they felt the same way. Marik turned a few more pages in the book then stopped. "Whoa... You guys have to see this." He brought the book over to them, kneeling down to show the page he was looking at.

Ryou reluctantly pulled away from the spirit, rubbing his shoulder to keep some connection between them. The spirit tilted his chin at Ryou, as though to say he was still above needing to be fussed over, but he didn't pull away as they turned to look at the book.

Ryou made a surprised noise when he saw what Marik was talking about. The page had indecipherable writing at the top of the page, with pictures along the bottom and sides, just like any other page in the book – except this time, the pictures were somewhat more familiar.

"Those are the items," Yugi said, leaning over Marik to see what they were talking about.

"'To make items of indescribable power.' This is the spell for creating them," Marik said. "And the next page describes how to 'unmake' them. These two pages were burned out of my copy of the book."

"No doubt the High Priest trying to cover his tracks," the spirit said.

"Yeah..." Marik said, skimming the page. "'Ingredients: Ninety-nine humans.'" Marik shivered. "I can see him not wanting anyone to know about that part. He probably wouldn't have wanted anyone to know how to destroy the items, either."

"How do you destroy the items?" Yugi asked.

"Er... that looks a little difficult in its own right," Marik said, reading over the spell.

Ryou noticed that the destruction spell page had more text on it than the creation spell and hoped it didn't require more ingredients. Or more horrifying ingredients, for that matter.

"Okay," Marik said. "The original spell worked by separating ninety-nine people from their bodies in a violent murder, dividing their souls, and binding them to the earth by melting their flesh with gold."

"That's horrible..." Yugi whispered.

"What do you mean 'dividing their souls'?" the spirit asked, sounding like he was about to get angry again. Ryou reached down and took his hand. A mixture of emotions flickered across the spirit's face, before he settled on a scowl, pointedly not looking at Ryou at all, though he made no move to take his hand away. Ryou looked at Marik, just as interested in the explanation as everyone else.

"The ghosts out there aren't really the people who died here, not entirely," Marik said softly. "Most of what made them, well, themselves is inside the items."

"I see," the spirit said blankly.

"Right..." Marik said. "So, um, if we can get all the ghosts into the items, it should weaken them enough that they could be destroyed by normal fire."

"Well, we have the fire," Yugi said, looking at the torches along the wall. He reached up to try and grab one, but was too short to lift it out of its holder.

Marik set the book down and walked over to pull the torch off the wall. "I don't know how we'll convince the ghosts to go back into the items, though," he said, handing the torch to Yugi. "They don't seem to want to come down here. Not that I can really blame them for that..."

"Maybe we could just tell them what we want to do," Yugi suggested. "Wouldn't they want the items to be destroyed? They can't be very happy the way they are right now."

"They don't want the items destroyed until they've had their revenge," the spirit said. "So telling them will only prompt them to stay even farther away."

"What would make them come down here?" Yugi asked.

Ryou looked around the room, eyes stopping on the Pharaoh. They met each other's gaze, the Pharaoh seeming to understand what had just occurred to him. Ryou felt guilty for even thinking it – whatever the Pharaoh had done, Ryou still wouldn't want to be responsible for something happening to him. Ryou quickly looked away, hoping no one had noticed his idea.

Unfortunately, he wasn't that lucky. "Good idea, Landlord," the spirit said, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "We'll tell them to come down and take all the revenge they could want." He jumped to his feet.

Ryou quickly stood as well, shaking his head frantically. _No!_ He looked to the others for support.

"Wouldn't they kill him?" Yugi asked. However angry he may have been at what the Pharaoh had done, he still sounded upset by the possibility.

"I don't think so," Marik said thoughtfully. "All we've seen them do is give people visions, like they did with you."

Yugi fiddled with the torch in his hands. "That was still-"

"Do it," the Pharaoh said.

"Eager for the opportunity to martyr yourself, are you?" the spirit asked disdainfully.

"It's my fault we're even here," the Pharaoh replied, using obvious effort to avoid getting into an argument. "If that's what it takes, then so be it."

"I'll just summon them down, then," the spirit said, walking speedily to the stairs. Ryou ran after him, catching his arm a few steps from the bottom. The spirit barely paused. "He's agreed, Landlord. If you don't like it, take it up with him."

Ryou didn't let go.

The spirit peeled Ryou's hand off his arm. "I suggest you get out of the stairs before I send them down here," he said. "And you might want to get your friends away from the Pharaoh." He squeezed Ryou's hand lightly, though his expression didn't change.

_He did agree,_ Ryou thought reluctantly. He wished he'd never thought of the idea, though he knew the spirit would likely have thought of it anyway. He nodded slowly, dropping his arm to his side and returning to the others. The spirit vanished out of sight.

Ryou grabbed another torch off the wall, just to be extra prepared. Marik followed suit, and the three of them stood at different points in the room, giving the area around the Pharaoh a wide berth.

"At least this will tell us if it's really him," Marik said.

Ryou blinked, then remembered that the ghosts hadn't had any effect on Zorc. It wasn't much of a comfort, really.

They stood in silence for several moments before they heard a whooshing sound come from the stairway. A stream of ghosts rushed violently into the room, mobbing the Pharaoh one after the other.

The Pharaoh screamed in agony, his whole body writhing atop the stone. He strained involuntarily against his bonds, instinctively trying to escape the assault coming from every direction. His scream grew louder and louder, before he abruptly went silent, his entire body going slack.

The ghosts poured into him, disappearing into the stone beneath him. The surface of the stone began to blacken, only slightly at first, growing ever darker as more and more ghosts went into it. By the time the final ghost disappeared, the stone was like a black hole, sucking all light in the room into it. A dull hum drowned out all other sound.

Ryou walked toward the stone as fast as he could without tripping over anything, barely able to make out even the torch in front of him. _Can fire by itself really stop this?_ Ryou asked himself fearfully, hoping they hadn't just made a terrible, terrible mistake.

Ryou reached the Pharaoh before any of the others. He hesitated for only a moment before rolling the Pharaoh off the stone, doing his best to ensure he didn't have too hard a landing on the ground. He took a deep breath, completely inaudible beneath the oppressive noise, and brought the torch down on the stone, setting the inky black liquid in each of the seven slots on fire.

At first the fire died down, nearly going out completely, but it quickly recovered, burning up the black liquid and letting more and more light back into the room. Ryou dimly saw Marik and Yugi, standing not far from the stone themselves, and he saw the spirit as well, standing in the doorway.

The fire changed colors as it burned, going from a dull red to a bright red to an orange before finally glowing a dazzling white, forcing Ryou to shield his eyes and take a step back to get away from the heat. He took another step back when a spiritual form emerged from the flames, looking fully human, yet transparent, very close to how the spirit appeared in the real world.

The figure – an adult man, neither young nor old – flew at the spirit, who stood there unmoving, looking more stunned than Ryou had ever seen him. Ryou held his breath when the figure reached out and touched the spirit on the shoulder, but the touch didn't seem to cause the spirit any physical pain. The figure smiled at the spirit, then faded away, leaving the spirit staring at the place where he'd been, one hand pressed to his shoulder where the figure had touched him.

The figure had only been gone a few seconds when more figures poured out of the flames and flew at the spirit. Women, men, and children swarmed around him, touching his arms, hands, or shoulders before disappearing. The last figure – a woman – lingered a while after the others had gone, giving the spirit a kiss on the forehead before she disappeared herself.

The spirit looked completely at a loss for what to do next.

Ryou was about to run over to him when he noticed the light was dying down. He looked at the stone and saw the fires burning out one by one, leaving behind several misshapen gold lumps. He barely had time to ponder whether this meant they'd succeeded or not when the world suddenly faded around him.


	28. The Return Home

**Title**: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 27)**  
Pairing**: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura**  
Rating**: M**  
Summary**: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.

* * *

Ryou blinked his eyes open, momentarily confused about where he was. He sat up and looked around, deeply relieved to find himself back in the museum. The glass mirror in the middle of the room was pitch black, and it now had perfectly symmetrical cracks radiating out from the center. The smoke was gone.

The spirit was on the floor next to him, still apparently unconscious. Ryou tentatively touched his face, wondering how he must feel after everything that had just happened. Ryou himself felt incredibly drained, and it hadn't even been his memory that they'd experienced.

The spirit's eyes opened, and Ryou quickly took his hand away. He looked the spirit over carefully, knowledge of what they'd just seen not far from his mind. The spirit sat up and scowled at him. _I'm not a child, Landlord. You don't need to be so... __**concerned**__ about me._

_Yes, I do,_ Ryou thought back stubbornly, though he had to admit the spirit didn't sound like he was secretly distressed. Maybe a little vulnerable.

_I am not any such thing,_ the spirit protested, crossing his arms. _I suppose I should just be happy you're not trying to **hug** me again,_ he added disdainfully, glare shifting to the wall behind Ryou. His eyes darted back to Ryou's face for an almost imperceptible moment before quickly returning to the wall.

_Yeah, that would be annoying of me,_ Ryou agreed, firmly wrapping his arms around the spirit.

The spirit dropped his arms to his sides, posing as though suffering some grave indignity. _This is foolish._

_I know,_ Ryou thought back, completely unconcerned.

"Hmph," the spirit replied, hugging him back with an exaggerated reluctance somewhat ruined by the strength of the embrace.

"That looks so strange," Yugi said, looking over from his spot on the museum floor. "It's like you're hugging thin air. Is he right there?"

"Yeah," Marik said, standing up and dusting himself off. "I can see him, too."

"He's here," Ryou said before he could think about it. "Hey, my voice is back," he added, letting go of the spirit to feel his throat with one hand. The pain was gone, and the skin was smooth, as though he'd never even had a sword pressed against it.

"That's good," Yugi said. He turned to look at the blackened glass in the middle of the room. "So, that's what... ah!" Yugi jumped up and ran over to the glass, kneeling down in front of it.

"What?" Ryou asked, fearing the worst. "What is it?"

"Is he okay?" Marik asked Yugi.

Yugi moved back a little, but didn't say anything. His eyes moved along a strange path, starting out aimed at the floor and ending up looking right in front of him, seemingly at nothing.

"The Pharaoh?" Ryou guessed.

"Huh?" Yugi said, sounding like his attention had been somewhere else entirely. "Oh, yeah, he's here. And he's mostly okay. Still a little sick because of the ghosts..." Yugi trailed off, clearly already distracted again.

_That **is** weird to see,_ Ryou thought, wondering what the Pharaoh was telling them. He didn't ask, though, not wanting to interrupt him while he was talking about something important.

_Please,_ the spirit said, rolling his eyes. _He's just using the opportunity to go on about his **noble deed**. _

_You don't know that,_ Ryou protested.

"You saw it ninety-nine times?" Marik exclaimed.

Ryou wished the spirit wouldn't smirk at him like that. _It's not an unreasonable thing for him to be talking about right now,_ he insisted.

Ryou surveyed the rest of the room, eyes widening when he saw the items – or rather, what was left of them – scattered around the floor near where Yugi had been.

Ryou got up and hurried over to get a closer look. What had probably been the Millennium Ring was now nothing more than a vaguely disk-like hunk of gold. The other items were in similar condition. There were a few bar-like forms that Ryou could identify as the scale, the rod, and the key based on size, while being fairly sure that the almost pyramid-shaped one was the remains of the puzzle. The necklace might have still been usable as a necklace, but only by someone with a very oddly shaped head.

Ryou thought the eye was missing for a moment, but he quickly saw that it had rolled into the corner of the room when it had escaped the bag with the other items. He walked over to it, wondering whether he should pick it up. Was it really just a lump of gold now? Was it safe to touch?

_It's perfectly safe, _the spirit told him, appearing at his side.

_So destroying the items in the memory destroyed them here, too?_ Ryou asked, thinking it was almost too good to be true.

_It was a shadow game,_ the spirit replied. _In order for the items in the memory to be capable of summoning him in the real world, he had to link their fates to the real items. A strategy which obviously backfired on him,_ the spirit added smugly.

_At least it can't happen ever again,_ Ryou thought, staring at the gold blob resting in the corner.

The spirit glanced over at the others, then looked at Ryou. _Put it in your pocket._

_What?_ Ryou asked, confused. _Why?_

_It's no longer a Millennium Item, but it's still a large, valuable piece of gold,_ the spirit said impatiently. _They aren't paying any attention. Even **you** could do it without them noticing._

_I'm not stealing anything,_ Ryou thought adamantly.

_Technically, the Pharaoh stole the eye from us to begin with, _the spirit pointed out.

_After you stole it from Pegasus,_ Ryou thought back, not remotely swayed by the spirit's argument. He picked up the piece of gold and set it on the table next to the box. He was about to go retrieve the other items from the floor when he noticed the little figures on top of the box and remembered why Marik had brought them. He took the paper Marik had given him out of his pocket and read it over again. _It really wouldn't be that difficult, would it?_

The spirit said nothing.

Ryou put the paper back in his pocket and picked up the figure of himself. After a moment's thought, he grabbed the one of Yugi as well.

That was apparently worth a comment from the spirit. _Really? You want to give **him** a body even after everything he did?_

_I want to give __**you**__ a body even after everything __**you**__ did, _Ryou pointed out. _And anyway, I don't think it's really my decision._ Ryou handed the figure to a bewildered Yugi.

"Um. Thanks?" Yugi said. "Isn't this part of the diorama you made?"

Ryou nodded, a little surprised that Yugi had even remembered it. "Could you tell him what it's for?" he asked Marik.

"Yeah," Marik said, smiling warmly. "There's a knife in that one," he added, pointing to one of the display cases.

"Thanks," Ryou said, retrieving the knife from the case as Marik explained the spell to Yugi. He put Yugi's bag and the rest of the items on the table to get them out of the way, then set the figure down on the floor. He sat cross-legged in front of it.

"Are you sure we have a sympathetic bond?" Yugi asked Marik, not sounding so certain of it himself.

"I'm sure," Marik said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's the only reason you can see him right now – since the exorcism was successful in your case, it can only due to a bond you both formed voluntarily."

Yugi didn't say anything, and Ryou was too busy reading over the spell to see his face. He recited the words under his breath a few times for practice. Once he had them memorized, he handed the paper over to Yugi. He was about to start the spell when he realized he didn't have a bandage for his hand once he'd cut it. He hesitated for a few seconds, then took off his outer shirt, too impatient to do the spell to wait for better preparation. _I never liked this shirt anyway,_ he thought as he cut a few strips of fabric off, then set the whole thing in a neat pile next to him.

_It is of the worse examples of your fashion sense,_ the spirit agreed, appearing on the floor on the other side of the figure.

Ryou held his left hand out over the figure and readied the knife with his right. He said the short spell he'd memorized and made a small cut in the fleshy part of his hand, wincing a little at the pain. He set the knife down and squeezed his hand to drop blood on the figure, then said the words of the spell again.

The effect was immediate. The spirit was sucked down into the tiny figure, which already looked more lifelike. Ryou barely had time to grab one of his makeshift bandages before the figure began to grow. It quickly lost the appearance it had had as small doll, the blue clothing becoming flesh colored and then losing the form of clothing entirely. The skin darkened into a tan as the form grew larger. By the time Ryou had wound the bandage around his hand and tied it off, the figure – no, the _body_ – was almost as big as he was.

Soon the body was even bigger than Ryou's, and it eventually settled on the same size and shape as the spirit's body in the memory. The eyes blinked open, not in confusion, but in an obvious test of the body's ability to function. The mouth opened and closed, fingers bent and formed into fists, and toes wiggled. The knees and elbows bent one at a time, then all together at once, and then the whole body stretched out and sat up.

Ryou barely noticed Yugi take the knife from the floor and move to the other side of the room.

The spirit... no, he wasn't a spirit anymore. _What should I call him?_ Ryou wondered. _Akefia?_

That got a sharp look in response. "No," the person in front of him said, or rather, _coughed._ "No," he said again, this time in a normal speaking voice. "Thief King will suffice."

"I can't just call you Thief King," Ryou protested, though he didn't have anything much better in mind. In its own way, the thought of calling him Akefia was even stranger than calling him Thief King, since it made him think of the little boy the spirit had been in the past, rather than who he was in the present.

"_Really?_" the Thief King asked, in a tone that made Ryou very, _very_ conscious of the unclothed body right in front of him. He blushed slightly, trying not to look at the area his eyes were suddenly being drawn to. The Thief King only grinned, pushing him to the ground and climbing right on top of him. "I seem to remember having this discussion before," he said, face directly above Ryou's. "I'm not sure why you think you're more likely to win this time."

"Er..." Ryou said intelligently, face turning bright red. He very distinctly remembered their last... _discussion_... about whether or not Ryou would ever call him 'Thief King'. The spirit had managed to reduce Ryou to a complete mess, and he'd only been, well, a spirit. He hadn't had a strong, warm body like the one pressing Ryou into the floor right then. Ryou hadn't been able to touch his chest and feel a heartbeat, and Ryou certainly hadn't been able to feel any _physical_ signs of the spirit's interest against his thigh. _At least we know __**that**__ works,_ Ryou thought, already somewhat dazed.

"Do we?" the Thief King asked. "_I_ don't believe we've tested it thoroughly enough to say." He kissed Ryou, more softly than Ryou would have expected.

Ryou groaned, burying his fingers in his hair. They'd kissed before, but it had never been anything like this. The Thief King's mouth was hot and wet and _breathing_, for that matter. The quick panting coming out of him may not have been as obviously desperate as Ryou's, but it was still _there_, and every hitch in his breath sent a thrill down Ryou's spine. _I can affect him as much as he affects me!_

Ryou was starting to lose what little awareness he had of their surroundings when a canvas painter's tarp was thrown on top of them. Ryou blinked up in surprise, eyes meeting an embarrassed-looking Marik.

"You can finish your... um... _testing_ later," he said, cheeks tinged with pink.

"R-right," Ryou said, trying and failing to sound normal. _This isn't a very appropriate place for this, _he thought. He looked around, finding both the Pharaoh and Yugi staring at them, Yugi in innocent, wide-eyed shock, the Pharaoh in mild distaste. Ryou didn't know if it was because of what he was doing, where he was doing it, or who he was doing it with. All seemed equally plausible. Ryou slid out from under the Thief King, not wanting to shove him off and accidentally subject his friends to more things they probably didn't want to see. He pulled his knees up to his chest.

"Relax, Landlord," the Thief King said. "There's no reason to get worked up over what people think."

Ryou didn't agree with that, but he disputed a different point. "I'm not really your landlord anymore."

The Thief King looked unconcerned. "I never said I was moving out."

Ryou felt a new warmth in his chest. He hadn't given much thought to where the Thief King would stay after he had a body. Before that day, he'd always assumed that he'd disappear as soon as he'd gotten what he needed. Ryou didn't think it would be a problem if he stayed – it wasn't like his father would notice. Of course... "Um. Technically Ishizu is our landlord right now," he said, looking at Marik.

"He can probably stay while you're staying," Marik said. "Since he helped to stop Zorc. He'll, uh, have to wear clothes, though."

"I'll do my best to obtain some," the Thief King said, looking far too pleased by the thought.

"You can wear my clothes," Ryou offered. _Please, please don't steal anything._

"I'm not wearing those," the Thief King replied. "They wouldn't fit me anyway."

Ryou realized he was right about that. Both the Pharaoh and the Thief King were too big to fit into his, Yugi's, or even Marik's clothes. The Pharaoh had wrapped a painter's tarp around himself into a sort of skirt, but he didn't seem pleased with the material, or with the dirt on it.

"I think we have some spare uniforms around here somewhere," Marik said. "For the janitors and security guards. I'll go grab them." He walked over to the door and opened it, then backed away immediately. "Er..."

"What is it?" Ryou asked.

He got his answer when Detective Lawson walked into the room and looked around, eyes immediately fixing on Ryou. "You! I should have known you would be involved in this somehow."

"Involved in what?" Ryou asked, the accusing tone in the detective's voice making him nervous. "What's going on?"

"We've been trying to get in here for nearly an hour," the detective said. "Someone saw smoke in the window," the detective gestured at a small window at the top of the outside wall, "and called in. The fire department determined that there wasn't enough heat for it to be a fire, but we couldn't get the door open. Why did you have the doors locked?"

"We didn't," Marik said. He pointed at the door handle. "These doors don't lock from the inside."

The detective inspected the door, and quickly realized that Marik was telling the truth. He took a key out of his pocket and tried in the lock. It turned easily. "That... we tried this key several times and..." The detective shook his head and handed the key to Ishizu, who had quietly followed him into the room. "Here's your key back, ma'am."

"Thank you, Detective," Ishizu replied, somewhat overly patiently.

"What exactly were you five doing in here?" the detective asked, looking back and forth between the Thief King and the Pharaoh. Ryou was relieved to see that the Thief King had pulled the tarp around himself into a makeshift skirt much the way the Pharaoh had.

"We were practicing a historical reenactment," the Thief King said smoothly. "One of the artifacts we were using broke unexpectedly, releasing a strange smoke into the air. We were all unconscious until a few minutes ago."

"A historical reenactment?" the detective repeated, sounding like he didn't believe a word of it.

"Yes," the Thief King said.

"I'll just go get their normal clothes from the supply closet," Marik said, moving toward the door. "So they can, uh, change out of their costumes."

"Hold it," the detective said, putting a hand in front of Marik to stop him from leaving. "If your story's true, you're all going to need to be checked out by the paramedics."

"I'll get their clothes," Ishizu said. "You can take them to my office to be checked out."

* * *

After being looked over by the paramedics, the five were each questioned about what happened by Detective Lawson, thankfully while still in the same room. Ishizu brought the spare janitor's clothes from the supply closet, having no difficulty figuring out what Marik meant.

Ryou kept his own story vague, so that he wouldn't have to remember invented details or risk contradicting anyone else's story. The Thief King kept trying to prompt him with more details in his mind, which was more distracting than helpful.

The paramedics found nothing wrong with any of them, but they were amazed at the state of both the Pharaoh and the Thief King's bodies. "It's like you've never been sick or injured in your whole life!" one had exclaimed.

Eventually, Detective Lawson left. "There doesn't seem to have been an actual _crime_ committed here," he said, though he sounded somewhat doubtful about this, and clearly still didn't believe the story they'd been telling. He had, at least, taken their word for it that the Pharaoh and the Thief King were Yugi and Ryou's cousins, respectively. Ishizu had taken the offhand declaration that the Thief King was staying with Ryou in her house remarkably well, giving absolutely no sign that she'd never heard anything about it until that very moment.

Once the detective had gone, walking out the door muttering something about needing a normal case for once, Marik gave Ishizu the real explanation of what happened.

"Well, he really can stay with us if he agrees not to cause any trouble," Ishizu said afterward. "It's a relief to know that the most terrible future I saw with the necklace will definitely never come to pass."

"We're all relieved at that," the Pharaoh said.

"We should celebrate," Yugi said, bouncing up and down.

"I'll call the others," Marik said, picking up the office phone.

The Thief King made as though to leave, but Ryou caught his hand.

_I don't belong with these people, Landlord,_ the Thief King told him. _And your friends may be upset with you if I'm there._

_I don't care,_ Ryou thought. And he really didn't, he realized. He knew the others might be upset with him, especially when they heard about how he'd lied, but he was content with the way things had worked out.

_Alright, _the Thief King agreed.

* * *

The party at the museum lasted until midnight, cut short only by the fact that most of the participants had school the next morning. Everyone in Domino with a connection to the items had come and listened to the story of their destruction. They were all horrified by the tale of their creation and glad that they had been destroyed – all except for Kaiba, who had been dragged there by Mokuba and thought the entire story was nonsense from start to finish. They gave everyone a look at the ruined items before locking them away in one of the museum's safes.

Afterwards, the event had turned to more normal party activities – music, eating, and dancing. The Thief King had been annoyed to see that Yugi's friends had basically accepted him after they'd heard the whole story, and had made a point to liberate most of their things from them. Fortunately, Ryou had noticed before the party ended and had forced him to give the things back to their original owners. The Thief King had spent the rest of the time eating like a complete maniac – or perhaps just like someone who hadn't eaten anything in months.

The Pharaoh and the Thief King seemed to have formed an unspoken truce, avoiding each other the whole time instead of fighting. Once the party was over, the Pharaoh had gone off with Yugi and his grandpa, barely giving the Thief King a second glance as they passed by. Ryou supposed it was as good as could be hoped for.

Ishizu had brought them all home and retired to her room after telling them not to stay up too much later. Marik had gone to his own room after assuring Ryou that he would never, ever go into his room while the door was closed. "Never, ever, _ever_. No matter what noises I hear. See you tomorrow."

"Good night," Ryou said, leading the Thief King to their room.

The Thief King immediately rid himself of his shirt and plopped down on the bed. He leered at Ryou. "I'd say this is an appropriate place, don't you think?"

"But not an appropriate..." Ryou was overcome by a yawn. "Not an appropriate time," he finished. He slipped off his clothes, intending to put on his pajama bottoms. The Thief King pulled him onto the bed before he could slide them over his legs.

"Are you sure about that?" the Thief King asked, giving Ryou's body a very tempting caress.

"Mm. Yes, I'm sure," Ryou said, managing to get the pajama bottoms on in spite of the distraction. "Aren't you tired?" he asked. Ryou himself felt like he hadn't slept in days. In a way he hadn't, given how much time they'd spent in the memory.

"I never get tired," the Thief King declared. The effect was ruined by a yawn toward the end of the sentence. The Thief King scowled. "I never get too tired to do what I want to," he amended.

"Well, I do," Ryou said, turning off the lamp and plopping down on top of him. Ryou cuddled up to him and pulled the blanket over them, enjoying the feel of bare skin against his chest. He gave the Thief King an enthusiastic, if sleepy, kiss. _There's always tomorrow morning._

_I'm holding you to that, Landlord_, the Thief King thought back, shifting the pillow around until he found a comfortable position. He wrapped his arms around Ryou.

_Good,_ Ryou thought, already half-asleep. His breathing slowed as he relaxed into the warm body beneath him. He soon dozed off, distantly thinking that if he could have this every night, he'd have a very happy life.

* * *

**A/N: So that's it. Wow. Thanks to everyone who stuck with this story! I hope it was worth it :)**

**I'm already thinking about my next story. It won't be a sequel to this, and it's probably going to be very different from this one (being Marik x Ryou, for one thing). I'll be posting the first chapter sometime soon, so be on the look out for that if you're interested.**

**Once again, thanks for sticking with this story through over 100,000 words! (I still can't believe I wrote that much)**


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